Data Linkage - what is it and what can it tell us about children's lives and experiences?
In this webinar, we explored the power of data linkage and how it can enhance our understanding of children's lives. By combining information from diverse sources, data linkage offers a richer, more nuanced perspective on key social issues affecting children and families. We uncovered how this approach can reveal hidden patterns and insights and also discussed the critical challenges and limitations associated with it. We also heard about current efforts to improve how successfully Scotland’s data on children’s social care can be linked to other sources.
In this free session, Dr Joanna Soraghan, Data Analyst at CELCIS, led a presentation on the practicalities, benefits, and hurdles of linking data from multiple sources. We examined issues such as data privacy, the complexities (and opportunities) of linking distinct data sources, and looked at examples of existing research carried out through linkage of the data recorded in Scotland about children in need of care and protection.
Joined by Craig Kellock from the Scottish Government’s Children and Families Data Analysis Unit, who discussed the existing challenges that are faced in linking Scotland’s Children’s Social Work datasets, and Sian Robson, Senior Data Analyst at Research Data Scotland, who provided an overview of the efforts currently in progress to overcome these.
This webinar is ideal for professionals in the children’s services sector, researchers, data analysts, and anyone interested in the intersection of data and child welfare.
This webinar provided an opportunity to:
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Understand what data linkage is and how it can enhance research.
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Learn how data linkage can help us better understand children’s lives.
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Discuss the challenges and limitations of this approach.
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Hear updates on the latest progress in data linkage for Scotland’s Looked After Children and Child Protection datasets.
If you have any questions for the organisers, please get in touch with us at celcis.learning@strath.ac.uk
Download the webinar transcript
Download the slides from CELCIS
Download the slides from the Children and Families Data Analysis Unit
Download the slides from Research Data Scotland
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