The UK Data Service recently facilitated #DataImpact2021, which explored how researchers and policymakers from UK academia, public, voluntary and community sectors, gain insights into discourses of representation in data focused on populations, communities and individuals.
Data collection methodologies constantly develop and they are increasingly becoming perceived as significant research assets in their own right. The methodologies are critical elements of the social construction of statistics, and they reflect, sometimes imperfectly, the lived experience of data subjects.
One of the aims of this event was to offer a pathway towards a continued collective focus on evolving the representation of lived experiences in data.
The event raised many interesting questions. Dr Dharmi Kapadia of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at the University of Manchester, who spoke on Represented yet excluded: How ethnic minority people are counted in national surveys, responded to some of the questions posed by participants in the event:
- How can we start to approach the improvement of data collection to ensure the amplification of diverse voices?
- Why have ethnic inequalities received less credence in policymaking discourse when compared to socioeconomic inequalities?
- Do you think the pandemic will lead to structural change on the policy forefront for ethnic inequalities?
- Do you think there are new and innovative opportunities to be explored here, through collecting data through means other than surveys and using textual analysis for example?
The UK Data Service is also delighted to have supported Dharmi and her colleagues in the creation of a video which explores findings that support understanding of ethnic inequalities in later life.
Revisit #DataImpact2021 and continue the conversation.
Catch-up with what happened at the event by rewatching #DataImpact2021 on YouTube. You can also read our report on the event and explore our list of resources, which participants shared on the day. See how people responded to the event on Twitter. Continue the conversation by joining our Jiscmail group.