Data curation standards and the messy world of social science occupational information resources

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Data curation standards and the messy world of
social science occupational information resources

• Paper presented to the 2nd International Digital
  Curation Conference, 21-22nd November 2006,
  Glasgow.

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GEODE www.geode.stir.ac.uk

• Grid Enabled Occupational Data Environment
• Operate as a portal
• User friendly access to occupational data
• High volume use
• Support a community of occupational data
  providers
• Depository of occupational information resources
• Limited volume use
• Experiment with / promote e-Social Science

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(Part 1) Occupational analyses in the social
sciences
A mans work is as good a clue as any to the
course of his life and to his social being and
identity (Hughes, 1958)

• (Quotes as reproduced in Coxon and Jones 1978
  Crompton 1998)

Nothing stamps a man as much as his occupation.
Daily work determines the mode of life.. It
constrains our ideas, feelings and tastes
(Goblot, 1961)
The backbone of the class structure, and indeed
of the entire reward system of modern Western
society, is the occupational order (Parkin, 1972)
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Why is occupational research messy?

• Two stage process
• Collect preserve source occupational data
• Summary / translation of source data
• This model is a scientific approach
• Published documentation (at both stages)
• Replicable
• Validation exercises
• But social researchers have been not been good at
  using it
• (Bechhofer 1969 Marsh 1986 Rose and Pevalin
  2003)

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Stage 1 - Collecting Occupational Data
Examples
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Stage 1 - Collecting occupational data summary

• All methods lead eventually to coding to an
  occupational index scheme
• Occupational Unit Groups
• Standardised Industrial Classifications
• Standardised employment status classifications
• Occupational index schemes are the point of
  departure for GEODE

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Stage 2 Summary / translation of source occ. data

• Published occupational information resources
  used to link source data, via an index scheme,
  with substantively meaningful measures
• Social class schemes
• Stratification scales
• Gender segregation statistics
• Labour process statistics
• Coding by fiat
• (Allocation by expert social scientist)
• Lack of documentation / replicability /
  consistency
• Unscientific

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Whats the problem?

• But
• Low uptake of existing occupational information
  resources
• Strict security constraints on users
  micro-social survey data
• Problems in the formatting / distribution of
  occupational information resources (Part 2)

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Handling Occupational Information

• Messy because
• Large volume of occupational information
  resources
• Limited coordination between resources
• Inconsistencies in access and exploitation
  processes

Occupational information resources are used to
interpret occupational records
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Some illustrative occupational information
resources
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Occupational information resources

• Large volumes of occupational information
  resources
• Coverage across countries and time periods
• Different research fields / topics
• Dynamic updates to occupational information
  resources
• Internet based distributions lead to duplication
  and expansion, e.g. ISEI - ISCO translation files
  at
• PISA webpages (Ganzeboom)
• IDEAS/Repec webpagees (Hendrickx)
• CAMSIS occupational data webpage
• Some maths
• 100 alternative index schemes (OUGs others)
• X
• 500 alternative output measures (class schemes,
  etc)

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Occupational information resources

• Limited coordination
• Varying metadata practices
• Coordinated structure, e.g. ISEI at IDEAS/Repec
  rare
• Natural language, e.g. CAMSIS common
• No documentation
• Varying data file formats
• SPSS, Stata, Plain text
• One-way distribution
• Internet download text publications
• Gaps between NSIs and academic researchers
• NSIs make regular changes to favoured resources

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Occupational information resources

• Limited coordination (ctd)
• Varying translation rules
• One file for all occupations (universal)
• Multiple files for different contexts
  (specific)
• Different occupational index requirements

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Occupational information resources

• Inconsistencies in access / exploitation
• Occupational Unit Group schemes variants
• Decennial updates / International variations
• Localised adaptations e.g. HESA / Survey
  variations e.g. GHS
• Numeric or string format preservation
• Hierarchical organisations
• E.g. ISCO-88
• 1234 ? 123 ? 12 ? 1
• 110 0110 ? 11 ? 1 ? 0
• Focus for application of occupational data
• Individual level measures
• Household / career contexts

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Returning to the occupational research model

• Two stage process
• Collection preservation of source occupational
  data
• Summary / translation of source data via
  occupational information resources
• Critically, stage (2) places responsibility for
  reviewing occupational information resources with
  the social scientist
• The volume of variants / inconsistencies isnt
  huge, but is enough to impede easy application

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(Part 2) Curating Occupational Data

• GEODE Grid Enabled Occupational Data
  Environment
• Core provision support the management of and
  access to occupational information resources
• Occupational information depository
• Easy access to occupational data (portal for
  occupational data)

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Metadata - Occupational information depository

• How to facilitate searching, registering,
  accessing index service?
• Establish a GEODE-M meta-data subset (.xml)
• Founded on Michigan Data Documentation Initiative
• Semantic curation of occupational information

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Benefits of DDI-XML curation

• XML suits
• OGSA-DAI
• (data access integration, www.ogsadai.org.uk)
• Supports data indexing / preservation /
  management
• Supports secure data matching programme
• Could facilitate analytical queries
• Gridsphere search programmes
• Data curation standards
• DDI widely deployed in social science resources
• XML accessibility / transferability
• Repeatability of tags very helpful
• E.g. data files index measures contexts
  authors

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Implementing GEODE-M metadata

• Critical entries
• Context of data country, time period
• Index scheme
• ltStdCatgrygt GEODE database of known index
  scheme
• Source uri for resource
• 2 stage curation process (?)
• Web-proforma for supply of occupational data
• Author context, index units
• Gridsphere portlet
• Manual updating of xml resource by depositor /
  GEODE members
• Gridsphere portlet

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Example issues

• ltStdCatgrygt Variant implementations lt-gt indexed
  translation files
• ltcontextgt cross-country resources
• ltproducergt roleformatting caters to multiple
  author roles
• ltfileDscr id"dkcherisco88.sav"gt caters to
  multiple files
• ltabstractgt

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Management of GEODE-M curation

• Metadata considerations
• GEODE-M as flexible recommended components of
  DDI
• GEODE-M templates
• webpages at GEODE
• Other facilities?
• Data considerations
• Stored at GEODE vs Linkage to external data
• Proprietary software (plain text / SPSS / STATA)
• At present
• Stage 1 automated curation (allows external
  linkage, any file format)
• Stage 2 extended manual curation (requires
  GEODE server copy of data, translation to plain
  text rectangular format
• Premised upon small commitment from depositors
  GEODE

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GEODE user uptake

• High potential demand
• Numerous queries on occupational data management
• Numerous researchers wishing to distribute
  occupational data
• Prototype GEODE services not yet user-friendly
• Carrots
• High demands for easier access and review
• Sticks
• Poor standards of many previous research which
  neglects good review of occupational information
• Hurdles
• Change research cultures in social science
  disciplines(?)

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Conclusions

• Occupational data curation and the Grid
• Grid facilitates management / access via xml
  formats (OGSA-DAI)
• Current models require moderate specialist input
  (manual curation)
• Grid offers new level of service not previously
  available
• Dynamic coordinated file storage
• File matching security
• Occupational data as case study for focused DDI
  xml curation
• Complex but finite range of occupational
  information resources
• High user demand
• Uptake will require combination of motivation,
  and instigation

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App 1 e-Social Science

• The Grid and e-Science
• Online Coordination of electronic resources and
  collaborations
• (Distributed computing)
• Large scale
• Collaborative
• Heterogeneous
• Standard protocols / information management
  systems
• UK eSocial Science
• Investment in assessing / implementing technology
  
• Computationally demanding data analysis
• Qualitative and quantitative data collection
  technologies
• Data sharing, processing and access

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App 2 GEODE architecture
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App3 Collecting occupational data

• Follow a recommended process
• ONS good practice
• www.statistics.gov.uk/methods_quality/ns_sec/quest
  ions.asp
• Industry description / occupation description /
  size of organisation / employment status /
  supervisory status
• Occupation descriptions -gt standardised numeric
  index
• Text coding tools, e.g.CASCOT -
  www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/publications/softwa
  re/cascot/
• Do your own thing
• European Social Survey parental occupational
  questions
• free text description of parental occupations

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App 4 Summary data what is the best class
scheme?

• Published occupational information resources
  link source data, via index scheme, with
  substantively meaningful measures
• Occupation-based social classifications
• Social class schemes
• Registrar Generals Social Class Scheme
  (1907-2001) skill / prestige
• National Statistics Socio-Economic Classifn.
  (2002-) employment relations
• Goldthorpe / CASMIN / EGP (Employment relations)
  
• Wright ownership and authority
• W.E.S. female occupational groupings
• Stratification scales
• SIOPS prestige
• ISEI socio-economic status education and
  income average
• CAMSIS social interaction
• CAMSIS is the best