Training: Introduction to Administrative Data Research and Analysis

This course gives a full introduction to working with administrative data. Participants will learn how to understand, access and prepare linked administrative data for analysis.

If you are a social or health researcher new to working with administrative data, or if you already work with administrative data but want to learn more about analysing linked administrative datasets, then the Introduction to Administrative Data Research and Analysis (IADRA) course is for you.

The IADRA course was developed jointly by SCADR and the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) Development Support Unit and was initially delivered as a 5 day face-to-face course, called Introduction to Data Science for Administrative Data Research (IDS-ADR). The original IDS-ADR course was adapted to an online format in 2021 and was renamed in 2024 to Introduction to Administrative Data Research and Analysis (IADRA) and continues to be delivered as a 4 week online course.

Course Overview

The IADRA course combines pre-recorded lectures on key administrative data research topics alongside practical exercises which will provide hands-on experience using R to manipulate and analyse a complex administrative dataset (using SLS synthetic data). Lecture videos are delivered by experts in the field of administrative data research.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to administrative data and administrative data research
• Introduction to programming & data manipulation verbs
• Understanding data provenance
• Record linkage
• Scottish & UK data showcase
• Law, trust and public engagement
• Data visualisation
• Analysis of administrative data - methods, issues and challenges
• Results and lessons learned from recent administrative data research projects

Practical exercises introduce relevant syntax-driven commands used to:

• tidy, clean and recode data
• link datasets
• manipulate data
• conduct data visualisation
• identify data quality issues
• fit regression models

Support with weekly practical exercises will be available during weekly scheduled virtual lab sessions, with experienced tutors available to answer questions.

Event details

When: Monday 2 March - Friday 27 March

Where: Online

Cost: £120 per participant

Find out more and register