Getting CLOSER to cohort studies

A world-leading initiative which brings together some of the most important studies of people’s lives in the UK, has been launched today by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

The UK is home to the largest and longest-running longitudinal studies in the world. The Cohorts and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resource (CLOSER) will pay a vital role in maximising the use, value and impact of these studies both within the UK and abroad. It will focus on nine of the country’s leading studies, with participants born as early as 1911 and as recently as 2007.

Professor Jane Elliott from the Institute of Education will lead a team to establish a national centre of excellence across the nine longitudinal studies. By strengthening the links between these studies we will be able to make much better use of the rich and detailed data on people’s lives, gathered over many years in the UK. Repeating the same longitudinal analysis across a number of studies allows researchers to test whether results are robust, and how they are modified by the context in which data has been collected.

Cross-cohort analysis helps us understand more about societal change and how changes in the policy environment impact on outcomes for individuals. For example, to understand the circumstances and mechanisms that lie behind issues such as the rise in obesity and the stagnation (or even decline) in social mobility, we need longitudinal data collected from several generations of people.

The Universities and Science Minister, David Willetts said:

“Cohorts studies give unparalleled insights into people’s lives and their life chances. This excellent new facility will make that easier than ever before.”

A major element of CLOSER will be a single tool that enables researchers to find the information they need for their analyses across all the cohort and longitudinal studies involved. The search platform will be designed for use by a wide range of researchers with very different levels of experience in data management, data analysis and data discovery. It will provide a simple, intuitive interface, encouraging more researchers to use longitudinal data and stimulating interdisciplinary research.

CLOSER will also offer a programme of training which will enable a whole new generation of researchers and policy makers to use these rich and complex longitudinal data to help inform key areas such as education and health. It is a £5-million initiative over five years and part of the larger £33.5 million Birth Cohort Facility Project which includes the new birth cohort study – Life Study.

Professor Paul Boyle, Chief Executive of ESRC said:

“CLOSER will ensure the UK’s world-leading position in life course and birth cohort studies and will really make the most of these essential windows into the health, wellbeing and lifestyles of children and adults in our society. It will provide unprecedented opportunities to understand how economic, social and biological factors combine to explain human behaviour in key important areas such as health, poverty, child development and healthy ageing.”

Professor Elliott, Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies said:

“I am delighted to be given this opportunity to lead this pioneering initiative which will help researchers to address key questions – for example about the factors that are important for children’s wellbeing, and about behaviours and experiences that influence health in later life. I look forward to working with colleagues across the studies, the Government and the Research Councils.”

For further information contact:

Professor Jane Elliott
Email: j.elliott@ioe.ac.uk
Telephone 0207 612 6395

ESRC Press Office:
Jeanine Woolley
Email: jeanine.woolley@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone 01793 413119

Notes for editors

1. CLOSER is a £5-million initiative and part of the larger £33.5 million Birth Cohort Facility Project which includes the new birth cohort study – Life Study. £28.5 million was provided from the Government’s Large Facilities Capital Fund (LFCF). Administered by the ESRC, CLOSER‘s purpose is to establish the infrastructure needed to maximise the use, value and impact of data collected across nine UK cohort studies panning 65 years. The studies are: National Survey of Health and Development (the 1946 Birth Cohort); National Child Development Study (the 1958 Birth Cohort); 1970 Birth Cohort Study; Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; Millennium Cohort Study; Southampton Women’s Survey; Hertfordshire Cohort Study; Understanding Society; Life Study.
2. Life Study is a pioneering study which will track the growth, development, health, wellbeing and social circumstances of over 90,000 UK babies and their families – from all walks of life – and will initially cover the period from pregnancy right through to the early years. Recruitment is due to begin in or around 2013.
3. A birth cohort study follows the progress and experiences of the same individuals at different points in time to track the influence of early health and life circumstances on outcomes and achievements in later life. It allows the influence of a wide range of factors that have changed with successive generations to be explored, ranging from nutrition and exercise to family structure, access to education and parental employment patterns. The first large-scale UK cohort study to take place was the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development.
4. A major element of CLOSER will be the development of Uniform Search Platform which will allow users to see the content of the studies, better plan their research and use the analyses from more than one cohort, encouraging more researchers to use longitudinal data and stimulate interdisciplinary research.
5. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC’s total budget for 2012/13 is £205 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. More at www.esrc.ac.uk
6. For almost 100 years the Medical Research Council (MRC) has improved the health of people in the UK and around the world by supporting the highest quality science. The MRC invests in world-class scientists. It has produced 29 Nobel Prize winners and sustains a flourishing environment for internationally recognised research. The MRC focuses on making an impact and provides the financial muscle and scientific expertise behind medical breakthroughs, including one of the first antibiotics penicillin, the structure of DNA and the lethal link between smoking and cancer. Today MRC funded scientists tackle research into the major health challenges of the 21st century.
7. The Institute of Education (IOE), University of London is the UK’s leading graduate school of education and one of the world’s foremost centres for research and teaching in education and related areas of social science and professional practice. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise two-thirds of the Institute’s research activity was judged to be internationally significant and over a third was judged to be “world leading”. The IOE is a member of the 1994 Group, which brings together 15 internationally renowned, research-intensive universities.
8. Professor Jane Elliott is director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), an ESRC resource centre based at the IOE. CLS manages three of the UK’s birth cohort studies – the 1958, 1970 and millennium cohort studies.