Turning data into research-ready data

ObjectivesGovernments acquire extensive data holdings and face increasing pressure to make these available as record-level microdata for research. However, turning data into research-ready data (RRD) is not a straightforward exercise. We demonstrate how even in simple cases researcher involvement can bring substantial rewards for effective RRD development.
 MethodsThis paper reports on an ADRUK-funded project to take a dataset originally collected by the Office for National Statistics for official statistics (the UK Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ASHE), formally review its microanalytical characteristics, link it to Census 2011 data, and prepare a new ‘research ready dataset’ with appropriate documentation and coding. This should have been straightforward as the datasets had already been widely used as research microdata. However, the involvement of academic researchers in the production of research-ready data led to many important new insights.
 ResultsThe research programme had 3 aims: testing assumptions about the data; reviewing data quality; and adding value.
 Because of its sampling model, ASHE is assumed to have random non-response both longitudinally an