Newly released survey variables for Next Steps sweeps 1-7 (ages 14-20) are now available to download from the UK Data Service under the standard End User Licence (EUL).
This release is a major enhancement to the study data. It will give researchers easier access to data previously available only under restricted access, including information related to ethnicity, family background, and qualifications. It will also provide researchers with newly released data, opening up opportunities for research into higher education, training, employment and income for the millennial generation and members of their household.
Previously restricted data now easier to access
The UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) carried out a disclosure assessment of all sensitive datasets available under UK Data Service Secure Access, to determine whether they could be accessed via EUL (End User Licence) instead. EUL data access enables researchers to download the data directly after accepting the terms and conditions of the End User Licence. After assessing 1841 variables held under Secure Access to check whether the data might contain information that could re-identify an individual (disclosivity) and how damaging re-identification might be to an individual (sensitivity), CLS moved 1238 survey variables to EUL access.
New datasets released
CLS also carried out a review of individual variables and datasets not previously deposited with UK Data Service, and released new EUL data for research use, including 563 additional variables, Household Grid files from sweep 1 (age 14) to sweep 7 (age 20) and Activity History files from sweep 4 (age 17) to sweep 7 (age 20).
Dr Lisa Calderwood, Director of Next Steps, said: “We are thrilled to make these variables available to a wider range of researchers, which will open up new opportunities for the study of the millennial generation. The newly released variables and datasets will contribute to a better understanding of their experiences, which will have the potential to benefit policy and practice.”
Read the user guide
Next Steps: A guide to the re-deposit of sweeps 1 to 7 datasets