I am not the most mathematically gifted but statistical research is a skill I want to master. I did really well on the quantitative module of my MSc in Social Science Research Methods (SSRM) and want to build on that learning during my PhD. My current plan and proposal for my thesis is a mixed-methods approach, involving some statistical profiling and, hopefully, lots of interviews.
My PhD topic is education for forced migrants (asylum seekers and refugees) in Wales. I’d like to create a statistical profile on their core characteristics, paying particular attention to parents and families. I won’t go into too many specifics here as this piece is about a process, rather than the details of my work. But there is not a great deal of existing work specifically on forced migrant families in Wales, so I’m quite excited about doing it. However, it is (quite rightly) not simple of easy to access the data I need.
Researchers cannot just get and analyse government data as and when they wish. This is quite right. Data protection is vital. I could (and have) register with the UK Data Service as a research student to get access to highly anonymised and basic data. This, however, is not sufficient for my needs.
I do not need, and would not get, access to personal data. However, I do need access to particular pieces of information – vitally the data that tells me how and why people came to be in the country and that they are now in Wales (absolutely NO names!!). In order to get access to that, I need to be approved. I’ve recently taken the first steps towards getting that approval.
The first step was to submit an application to the Office for National Statistics. There are two levels of approval, each with their own application processes. The first gives provisional status and is for novice researchers who need to be closely supervised. Much as I may feel like a novice, the guidance made it seem that this wasn’t applicable to me. I applied for full approval. I had to provide details of my experience, existing skills and knowledge. I also had to clearly explain what dataset I wanted to access and why. I felt as though I were writing a job application!
I submitted the form, as instructed in the guidance and then waited. I expected a fairly long wait but that’s not what happened. I got an immediate acknowledgement of my application then about two weeks later I was sent a list of dates for the next stage. I’d cleared the first set of screening and so far, the process has been smooth and quicker than I had expected. The speed was great but did mean a day of frantic phone calls!
The second stage is a training course called “SAFE Researcher”. Dates for the training are not published publicly but are sent to applicants, should they be successful with the first stage of the process. The email I was sent gave a list of options of differing dates in various locations across England and Wales. The most convenient location had a date the following week. That would have seemed to be wonderful timing if it weren’t half-term and a day I had booked off from studying and for which I had no childcare arrangements!
After a few emails back and forth with the research support team at the ONS, I learnt that the next local date wouldn’t be until at least February (it was currently October) so I could either take the upcoming date or travel to another location (at least 3 hours journey) a week (or few) later. That is where the frantic phone calls came in. Fortunately, I was able to make the necessary childcare arrangements (with the associated costs, sigh).
The following week, I turned up at the training venue. I was a little early and nervous. Unfortunately, things did not start too well when there was some initial doubt about whether I and another delegate where registered on the course. Fortunately, that was resolved and the rest of the day went surprisingly quickly. I was the only PhD candidate there but a previous doctoral student from the same department as me introduced herself and we had a good chat. The course was information as well as relatively interactive. We were not talked at for several hours but instead guided to think and understand for ourselves. Just in case it’s not clear from the name of the training, the emphasis was on how and why researchers can and must use data safely and avoid any breaches of confidentiality. It was really important stuff delivered in an engaging way.
A couple of days after the training, the ONS sent me an email with a link to an online test. I now had to prove that I’d listened, thought and understood! The tests wasn’t really what I was expecting. It was more challenging. The questions often required me to write detailed paragraphs explaining and justifying my answers. There were often scenarios given and I had to make a choice where none of the options seemed right. In those cases, I wasn’t able to explain my answers. I got to the end of the test and felt quite worried. I wanted to be able to talk something through my answers and discuss them, sometimes starting with “and what if ….?”. But I couldn’t. So I clicked submit and then just had to wait.
About a week later, I got the email confirming I’d been approved. I now have an official registered number as an ONS Approved Researcher. All, I’ve got to do now is write another research proposal and get that approved too. I’ll let you know how that goes in another blog post!
Research Stories 