Weblinks to alternative datasets
Links to Health Databases
This is a really useful and interesting website that gives information about the NHS in the UK – several reports are available to download and related statistics could be helpful.
This website, essentially health and safety related, will give you the opportunity to explore a wide range of alternative statistics that fit into a healthcare perspective but perhaps more from an employment perspective.
You will already have had the opportunity to explore some relevant health databases and these will provide you with some rich data to use in becoming familiar with using SPSS. You may also like to have a look at the following:
This is a really useful and interesting website that gives information derived from the Office of National Statistics.
This website provides essentially information about health surveys across the Country. You might like to explore the catalogue section under the search term ‘health’ – masses there!
There are a wealth of health related websites that portray statistics in graphical form – try exploring these:
http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/
This is the site of the Health For All database. Have a look at the Injury Chart Book – full of some very interesting information.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/924156220X.pdf
Have a look at the Graphical overview of the ‘Global Burden of injuries’ – it is fascinating!
A really useful site to access for a mass of data is BiomedCentral
You have to register for this (but it is free) and then you will see how vast the resource is available to you to access – it includes a huge resource of journal articles relevant to any specific subject area you choose.
Some more useful information to build up your collection of health related web sites that provide data which you can use in your own development of statistical expertise can be found at the following web site:
http://bubl.ac.uk/Link/h/healthstatistics.htm Have fun exploring!
The website below is one that has categorised data tools and statistics within categories of health statistics, national public health data sets, state and local public health data sets plus a number of other useful data sets related to health.
http://pdpartners.org/health_stats.html
Alternatively you might wish to explore the following directory of research datasets which are used in health services research and public health:
http://nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hsrr_search/
You will find the following two web sites of great interest – and doubtless will spend many hours exploring the vast amount of available information they both make available.
The National Centre for health statistics covers a vast amount of American health data – categorised by subject:
The website below is one that has categorised data tools and statistics within categories of health statistics, national public health data sets, state and local public health data sets plus a number of other useful data sets related to health.
http://pdpartners.org/health_stats.html
Alternatively you might wish to explore the following directory of research datasets whish are used in health services research and public health:
http://nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hsrr_search/
The following website provides some sources of comparable health-related data and provides links to additional related health data sites:
www.thedataweb.org/datasets.html
CIHI provides a range of free, aggregate-level data on Health Conditions with more comprehensive data available in published reports.
Free data are presented either as pre-formatted tables which provide a snapshot of the data or interactive data which provides a dynamic presentation of health statistics, in which data can be manipulated, printed and exported.
Access the following website and scroll down the page given and you will find example spreadsheets of data to use in your own analyses – this will give you plenty of examples to use with ready prepared data.
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/gerstman/StatPrimer/anova-b-exercises.htm
When you access this next website, it will be self evident and self explanatory in terms of what you need to do in order to explore the vast database of information.
Another helpful website which provides a useful run through of a repeated measures design giving a step by step approach using SPSS.
http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/Zoltan_Dienes/RM%20II%20SPSS%20repeated%20measures.doc
This next website is an interesting one as it enables you to run our own data examples with an almost instant return of the results. Have a go with some of your own data.
http://department.obg.cuhk.edu.hk/researchsupport/statmenu.asp
Links to Business Datasets
Below is a list of some potential sources of SPSS datasets. Many of these are from Data Archives. These archives require that individual users register their details before data can be obtained.
1.The UK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive is the largest repository for digital data for the social sciences and humanities in the UK. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education Funding Councils and the University of Essex. It contains a large range of historical and contemporary datasets related to various aspects of employment, business, health and social issues. Most of the datasets available in the data Archive are available in SPSS format.
The data available include large-scale government datasets, generated from regularly repeated surveys.
A support service is also available to assist users of many of these government datasets. This is offered through the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), funded by the ESRC and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).
This support service xcontains specific SPSS guides to help you use individual datasets.
Some of the most commonly used datasets available in the UK Data Archive, and which are available in SPSS format are:
i. Quarterly Labour Force Survey
Since 1973 this survey has gathered information on employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. It is carried out on a quarterly basis, with 60,000 responding households every quarter. Further information and copies of the datasets are available at:
Support in using this survey is available from the ESDS. This support and an SPSS guide to using the LFS can be found at:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/Government/lfs/
ii. Annual Population Survey
The Annual Population Survey provides data that can produce reliable population estimates for the UK at local authority level. The survey also looks at topics such as education, employment, health and ethnicity. To access the datasets see:
For ESDS support in using the Annual Population Survey, go to:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/aps/index.asp
iii. British Social Attitudes Survey
The British Social Attitudes survey is designed to produce annual measures of attitudinal movements which will complement large-scale government surveys such as the Labour Force Survey. The Social Attitudes Survey covers topic areas such as the economy, labour market participation and the welfare state. To access the datasets in SPSS format, see:
For ESDS guidance and a tailored SPSS guide to using this dataset, see:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/bsa/
iv. General household Survey
The General Household Survey (GHS) is a continuous national survey of people living in private households conducted on an annual basis, by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The survey collects data on a range of core topics, covering household, family and individual information. This information is used by government departments and other organisations for planning, policy and monitoring purposes, and to present a picture of households, family and people in Great Britain.
For ESDS support and an SPSS guide to using this dataset, see:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/ghs/
The UK Data Archive also includes a host of European datasets with data from across some or all European Countries. These datasets include:
v. European Social Survey
The European Social Survey (ESS) is a multi-country survey covering over 30 nations. It gathers data on attitudes, beliefs and values across countries in Europe. The project is funded by the European Commission, the European Science Foundation, academic funding bodies and National Science Foundations in each participating country. The project is directed by a Central Co-ordinating Team at the Centre for Comparative Social Surveys at City University, London, and the UK component is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). For more information and access to the datasets see: http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org
vi. European Working Conditions Survey
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EFILWC). It is generally conducted every 5 years. The aim of the EWCS is to provide an overview of the state of working conditions in the EU, to identify major issues and changes affecting the workplace and to contribute to a better monitoring of the quality of work and employment in Europe. The questionnaire covers all aspects of working conditions, including working time; physical risk factors; violence, harassment and discrimination in the workplace; nature and organisation of work; impact of work on health; management and communication structures; work-life balance; income and payment systems.
For further information about the survey, and guides to using the data, see:
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/surveys/index.htm
2. The Workplace Employment Relations Survey
The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004) is the fifth in a series of surveys that aims to provide a nationally representative account of the state of employment relations and working life inside British workplaces. The survey series has been jointly sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and the Policy Studies Institute. Previous surveys were conducted in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998. The scope of WERS 2004 covers all but the smallest workplaces in Great Britain . It covers both private and public sectors and almost all areas of industry Around 2,300 workplaces, 1,000 employee representatives and 22,500 employees took part in the 2004 Cross-section survey. For further information, access to the datasets in SPSS format, and guidance and advice in using the datasets, see the WERS2004 Information Service at:
http://www.wers2004.info/wers2004/wers2004.php
3. Weblinks to other datasets
i. Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research - Internet Data Sources for Social Scientists
http://www.ciser.cornell.edu/ASPs/datasource.asp
Links to a large number of publicly available datasets in the US.
ii. Claremont Graduate University Web interface for Statistics Education
http://wise.cgu.edu/links/datalinks.asp
Links to a range of learning, government and international datasets.