Simon Hay

TAF/EDF Project – An Introduction Reen Blake-Carr introduces the TAF/EDF project, highlighting key themes—evaluation setup, innovative use of place-based data, and effective dissemination—as essential for impactful, place-sensitive policy interventions across the UK. https://ow.ly/zqxa50VZQpP

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Poor data doesn’t just weaken research it can lead to misguided decisions, wasted resources, and missed impact. Our latest article explores 7 critical data quality pitfalls in field research and practical ways monitoring & evaluation teams can protect credibility, improve reliability, and strengthen evidence-based decision-making. If you work in social research, development programs, or impact evaluation, this is a must-read. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ddtikXTJ #MonitoringAndEvaluation #SocialResearch #DataQuality #FieldResearch #ImpactEvaluation #EvidenceBasedDecisionMaking

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New year, new EOI deadlines. Here is a look at the upcoming 2026 deadlines. ALSWH is a national research resource and requires approved researchers to apply for an Expression of Interest (EOI) to conduct research, and EOIs must be submitted before the deadline. Researchers wishing to use ALSWH data must seek formal permission from the ALSWH Data Access Committee. For more information on ALSWH survey data or to apply, visit: https://lnkd.in/gun_J7fG #ALSWH #AustralianLongitudinalStudyonWomensHealth #WomensHealthResearch #WomensHealthAustralia

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Senior Research Officer Jim Vine has written for the UK Data Service’s Data Impact blog about our Innovation Panel, and how we gather new types of data, and develop survey methods https://lnkd.in/eX-WgRNy

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***DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR ABSTRACTS TO: 12 NOON 6 March 2026*** On 6 May 2026, London’s HDRCs and LAPHRN are hosting the London Public Health Research Community Conference, bringing people together to showcase research that strengthens practice across London. We've had a few questions about abstracts as we near the abstract deadline so this post is to help... Q. Who can submit? We welcome abstracts from anyone working on research in or with local authorities in London. Q. Are abstracts about social care eligible? Yes. We welcome a wide range of topics if they are linked to the wider determinants of health. Q. Must research be authored with London local authorities? What about literature reviews? We recognise literature reviews can be valuable to London local authorities even if they were not directly involved. If submitting a literature review, use the abstract form question on local authority involvement to explain its relevance to London local authorities. Q. What about poster printing costs? If printing costs are a barrier, contact us to discuss support or alternatives. Q. What about the pre-election period (local and mayoral elections on 7 May)? Local authorities have confirmed the Conference can proceed as it has no political affiliations. Materials and speakers must not support any political party or candidate. We cannot accept abstracts or posters that do so. Q. How will abstracts be assessed? We are looking for four qualities: clarity, relevance, potential impact and London-wide coverage. To apply, please use the link below. Thank you for your interest! <https://lnkd.in/ec-6vdWW> If you’d like to present but have further questions or aren’t sure where to start, contact us at dahr.laphrn@ucl.ac.uk.

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I’m pleased to share the ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council Cohorts Review 2024–25, which evaluates the UK’s national cohort studies—MCS, BCS70, NCDS, and Next Steps—and reflects on how to maintain and enhance their contribution to research, policy, and society.    Informed by sector-wide engagement, the review reaffirms the unique and lasting impact of the cohort studies. For decades, these rich longitudinal datasets have shaped public policy, improved services, and enabled pioneering cross-disciplinary research. Their depth, rigour, and scope make them unrivalled tools for understanding and driving change.    Looking ahead, ESRC remains committed to supporting the cohort portfolio. Earlier this year, we launched Generation New Era (GNE), the UK’s newest birth cohort. Building on the success of preceding studies, GNE represents an important step toward a stable, integrated portfolio that can be delivered sustainably over the long term.    Sustainability was a central consideration of the review, with a focus on what can realistically be achieved within available resources. A key outcome is the introduction of new cohorts roughly every 25 years, supporting the study of generational change while concentrating resources on large, well-powered studies. Although this approach may create gaps in early-life data, ESRC will explore opportunities to coordinate future investments with other funders. The review has also guided the future direction for existing studies. Following careful consideration of Next Steps and its role within the life-course portfolio, ESRC has made the difficult decision to not commit new funding for further active data collection once CLS’ current funding concludes. Next Steps remains a valued resource, and ESRC will continue to work closely with CLS to safeguard its legacy through data linkage, integration, and ongoing accessibility. Many thanks to ESRC colleagues and all the contributors to the review. For full details on the review’s findings and actions, access the publication here: https://lnkd.in/e_Pa5EhD UK Research and Innovation 

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Survey Practice 2026 Special Issue — Call for Papers “Mixed Methods Research: Deepening Our Knowledge Through Integrated Designs” Guest editors: Margaret R. Roller and Doug Currivan — The emphasis of this special issue is on articles that demonstrate how a mixed methods approach better informed the researcher’s understanding of the research question compared to a quantitative-only or qualitative-only design — Submission deadline: November 14, 2025. Survey Practice is an online publication from American Association for Public Opinion Research. The Editor-in-Chief is Eva Aizpurua. Read the CfP here https://lnkd.in/gnCNJHhC

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Embedding research into the organisational structure of smaller rural hospitals: building research culture and capacity and understanding perceived rural health workforce benefit https://lnkd.in/g3sVzJf5

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Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics in Society), has released its July issue. This issue brings articles and discussion from the RSS Call for discussion papers 2023 on the topic Analysis of citizen science data, https://lnkd.in/gNwuSwDK. Articles have been presented at the multi-paper discussion meeting which took place at last year's 2024 RSS Conference in Brighton. Citizen science involves volunteers who participate in scientific research by collecting data, monitoring sites, and even taking part in the whole process of scientific inquiry. These opportunistic datasets can be substantially large, numbering hundreds of thousands of units and present many statistical challenges in terms of sparse and missing data, issues with data collection (e.g. reporting bias and spatial bias) and computational challenges. Articles by Emily B. Dennis and coauthors, Elisabeth Bersson and Peter D. Hoff, and Jonathan Koh and Thomas Opitz, address the most important present issues when analyzing such datasets. At this year's 2025 RSS Conference in Edinburgh, Elisabeth Bersson organizes yet another invited session on the same topic, analysis of citizen science data. Call for discussion papers 2023 has been the proposed and coordinated by the RSS Discussion Paper Meetings Committee, along with the RSS Sections on Emerging Applications and Environmental Statistics. https://lnkd.in/g4S_sZMx

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