Working papers

Can encouraging respondents to contact interviewers to make appointments boost co-operation rates and save costs?- CLS working paper 2013/9

This CLS working paper describes a randomised experiment, conducted on the Innovation Panel of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) in 2011, which sought to evaluate whether the ‘early bird’ approach to reducing interviewer costs and increasing survey response could be successful in a UK context.

Key words: longitudinal; non-response; incentives; call attempts; randomised experiment; appointments

Stereotyped at seven? Biases in teacher judgements of pupils’ ability and attainment- CLS working paper 2013/8

This CLS working paper investigates whether biases in teachers’ assessments of pupils may contribute to creating and maintaining attainment gaps among primary school children in England. The paper uses data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

Draw-A-Person – Screening Procedure for emotional disturbance- CLS working paper 2013/7

Miranda Crusco investigates the ‘Draw-A-Person’ exercise  administered at age 7 in NCDS, examining how this method can be linked to the Rutter scale of internalising and externalising problems, also administered to the NCDS cohort members

Keywords: National Child Development Study, 1958 cohort, Rutter, non-cognitive, visual test.

Experiences of physical activity at age 10 in the 1970 British Cohort Study- CLS working paper 2013/6

This CLS working paper uses data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) to compare statistical models based on policy assertions with models based on socialisation and motivation theories. By doing so, it identifies whether school sport and physical education policy is likely to act as an effective intervention, or whether it mostly benefits children who have already been socialised into active lifestyles by their parents.

From childhood deprivation to adult social exclusion – evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study- CLS working paper 2013/5

This CLS working paper analyses the common trajectories of children from disadvantaged backgrounds which lead to adult social exclusion. Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), it also provides an assessment of whether education is effective in breaking the vicious circle of disadvantage both across and within generations.

Key words: childhood disadvantage; social exclusion; education; structural equation model; British Cohort Study

Learning and the lifecourse – The acquisition of qualifications in adulthood- CLS working paper 2013/4

This CLS working paper analyses the extent to which people acquired qualifications in adulthood and whether they upgraded to higher levels of qualification than they previously held. It uses data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS).

Collecting saliva samples for DNA extraction from children and parents- CLS working paper 2013/3

This CLS working paper provides an account of a pilot study investigating the feasibility of collecting saliva samples for DNA extraction from mothers, fathers and children aged around 11 years old using field interviewers on the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).

Key words: Saliva samples; bio-measures; DNA; interviewer training; Millennium Cohort Study; longitudinal.

Prevalence and correlates of sleep problems at age 50- CLS working paper 2013/2

This CLS working paper uses data from the Age 50 sweep of the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS) to provide a preliminary cross-sectional analysis of the correlates of sleep problems among cohort members. The results demonstrate associations of poor sleep with gender, socio-economic circumstances, health status, health-related behaviour, and depression.

In-school ability grouping and the month of birth effect- CLS working paper 2013/1

This CLS working paper uses data from MCS to explore the hypothesis that ability grouping in early primary school may help create the ‘month of birth effect’.

Imagine you are 60 – A view of the next decade for 50-year-olds in the 1958 British birth cohort study as they enter the ‘third age’- CLS working paper 2012/6

Jane Elliott provides a preliminary descriptive analysis of a sub-sample of responses to an open-ended question which asked members of the 1958 birth cohort to imagine they were 60, and describe what their life would be like.

Keywords: 1958 birth cohort, NCDS, National Child Development Study, ageing, imagination, expectations

Do primary school children’s career aspirations matter?- CLS working paper 2012/5

This CLS working paper uses data from MCS to examine the role of young children’s career aspirations in the association between family poverty and children’s emotional (internalising) and behavioural (externalising) problems.

Key words: family socio-economic disadvantage, career aspirations, emotional and behavioural problems

Do primary school children’s career aspirations matter? – Appendix- CLS working paper 2012/5a

This appendix accompanies the CLS working paper, Do primary school children’s career aspirations matter? The paper uses data from MCS to examine the role of young children’s career aspirations in the association between family poverty and children’s emotional (internalising) and behavioural (externalising) problems.

Key words: family socio-economic disadvantage, career aspirations, emotional and behavioural problems