Working papers

Here you can search our series of working papers, dating back to 1983. These papers use data from our four cohort studies and cover a wide range of topics, from social inequalities and mobility, to physical health, education and cognitive development. Other papers in the series seek to improve the practice of longitudinal research. At the present time, we are only able to accept papers if at least one author is a member of the CLS research team. Some of the working papers below will subsequently have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

For more information about our working papers series, please email us at clsworkingpapers@ucl.ac.uk.

Keyword search

Enter a keyword or author to search our library of working papers.

Sort:
Working papers

The impact of using the web in a mixed mode follow-up of a longitudinal birth cohort study: Evidence from the National Child Development Study – CLS working paper 2020/9

A sequential mixed mode data collection, online-to-telephone, was introduced into the National Child Development Study for the first time at the study’s age 55 sweep in 2013. The study included a small experiment, whereby a randomised subset of study members was allocated to a single mode, telephone-only interview, in order to test for the presence of mode effects on participation and measurement. Relative to telephone-only, the offer of the web increased overall participation rates by 5.0 percentage points (82.8% vs. 77.8%, 95% confidence interval 2.7% to 7.3%). Differences attributable to mode of interview were detected in levels of item non-response and response values for a limited number of questions.

Author: Alissa Goodman, Matt Brown, Richard J. Silverwood, Joseph W. Sakshaug, Lisa Calderwood, Joel Williams and George B. Ploubidis
Date published: 19 October 2020
Download
Working papers

Does private schooling make you right-wing? An investigation using the 1970 British Cohort Study – CLS working paper 2020/8

This paper addresses the question of whether attending a private school (both at primary and secondary stages) affects voting behaviour and political attitudes in adulthood. The analysis is based upon the British Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born in one week in April 1970 at age 42 years.

Author: Richard D. Wiggins, Samantha Parsons, Francis Green, George Ploubidis and Alice Sullivan
Date published: 16 October 2020
Download
Working papers

Collection of DNA samples and genetic data at scale in the UK Millennium Cohort Study – CLS working paper 2020/7

This paper describes the collection of saliva samples from cohort members and their biological parents in the Millennium Cohort Study. It analyses response rates, predictors of response, and details the DNA extraction, genotyping and imputation procedures performed on the data.

Author: Emla Fitzsimons, Vanessa Moulton, David A Hughes, Sam Neaves, Karen Ho, Gibran Hemani, Nicholas Timpson, Lisa Calderwood, Emily Gilbert, Susan Ring
Date published: 26 August 2020
Download
Working papers

Improving the plausibility of the missing at random assumption in the 1958 British birth cohort: A pragmatic data driven approach – CLS working paper 2020/6

This paper presents a systematic data-driven approach to identify predictors of non-response at each sweep of the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) and demonstrates that including such variables in analyses with principled methods can reduce bias due to missing data.

Author: T. Mostafa, M. Narayanan, B. Pongiglione, B. Dodgeon, A. Goodman, R.J. Silverwood and G.B. Ploubidis
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

A data driven approach to understanding and handling non-response in the Next Steps cohort – CLS working paper 2020/5

This paper presents a systematic data-driven approach to identify predictors of non-response at wave 8 (age 25-26 years) in Next Steps and demonstrates that including such variables in analyses with principled methods can reduce bias due to missing data.

Author: Richard J. Silverwood, Lisa Calderwood, Joseph W Sakshaug and George B. Ploubidis
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

New birth cohort study: theoretical sampling design options – CLS working paper 2020/4

This report sets out the rationale and sampling design options for a new UK birth cohort study, incorporating an accelerated longitudinal design.

Author: Alice Sullivan, Heather Joshi and James Williams
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

Mixing modes in longitudinal surveys: an overview – CLS working paper 2020/3

This report gives an overview of the most relevant literature and evidence on the use mixed-mode involving web in longitudinal surveys.

Author: Matt Brown and Lisa Calderwood
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

New technologies and innovative methods in data collection – CLS working paper 2020/2

This report looks at what major longitudinal studies have already done in terms of collecting data using new technologies and innovative methods, and explores the methodological challenges surrounding innovative data collection.

Author: Emily Gilbert
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

Incentives in longitudinal studies – CLS working paper 2020/1

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of incentives in longitudinal studies.

Author: Erica Ryu Wong
Date published: 27 April 2020
Download
Working papers

The index of local area relative disadvantage- A cross-country comparison- CLS working paper 2018/3

This paper proposes a measure of ecological disadvantage– the Index of Local Area Relative Disadvantage (ILARD) – for use in comparative cross-country research on neighbourhood effects.

Author: Anthony Buttaro Jr. & Ludovica Gambaro
Date published: 13 August 2018
Download
Working papers

The impact of maternal employment on children’s weight: Evidence from the UK- CLS working paper 2018/2

In this paper, the researchers examine the effect of maternal employment during childhood on children’s weight.

Author: Emla Fitzsimons & Benedetta Pongiglione
Date published: 1 March 2018
Download
Working papers

Father departure from the household and childhood mental health: how does timing matter?- CLS working paper 2018/1

In this working paper, the researchers employed a fixed effects method to estimate the effect of paternal departure from the household on children’s socio-emotional outcomes.

Author: Emla Fitzsimons & Aase Villadsen
Date published: 1 February 2018
Download
Contact us

Centre for Longitudinal Studies
UCL Social Research Institute

20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL

Email: clsdata@ucl.ac.uk

Follow us