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Title:
National Child Development Study: Local Authority Data, 1958-1974: Special Licence Access

Series: (National Child Development Study)

Subject Categories:
National Child Development Study - Major studies
Child development and child rearing - Social stratification and groupings
Social and occupational mobility - Social stratification and groupings

Depositor(s):
University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Principal Investigator(s):
University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Sponsor(s):
University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Other Acknowledgements:
Professor Neville R. Butler, Brian Dodgeon and Peter Shepherd of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies.

Abstract:
The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing longitudinal study that seeks to follow the lives of all those living in Great Britain who were born in one particular week in 1958. The aim of the study is to improve understanding of the factors affecting human development over the whole lifespan.

The NCDS has its origins in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) (the original PMS study is held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under SN 2137). This study was sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and designed to examine the social and obstetric factors associated with stillbirth and death in early infancy among the 17,000 children born in England, Scotland and Wales in that one week. Selected data from the PMS form NCDS sweep 0, held alongside NCDS sweeps 1-3, under SN 5565.

To date there have been seven attempts to trace all members of the birth cohort in order to monitor their physical, educational and social development. The first three sweeps were carried out by the National Children's Bureau, in 1965, when respondents were aged 7, in 1969, aged 11, in 1974, aged 16 (these sweeps form NCDS1-3, held together with NCDS0 under SN 5565). The fourth sweep, NCDS4, was conducted in 1981, when respondents were aged 23 (held under SN 5566). In 1985 the NCDS moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) - now known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) - and the fifth sweep was carried out in 1991, when respondents were aged 33, (NCDS5, held under SN 5567). For the sixth wave, conducted in 1999-2000, when respondents were aged 41-42 (NCDS6, held under SN 5578), fieldwork was combined with the 1999-2000 wave of the 1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70), which is also conducted by CLS (and held at the UKDA under GN 33229).

Response dataset:
A separate dataset covering response to NCDS over all seven waves is available under SN 5560, National Child Development Study Response Dataset, 1958-2005. Users are advised to order this study alongside the other waves of NCDS.

Additional studies:
In addition to the main NCDS sweeps, some further studies have also been conducted. In 1978, a postal survey was conducted of the schools attended by members of the birth cohort at the time of the third follow-up of 1974, in order to obtain details of public examination entry and performance. Similar details were also sought from sixth-form and further education colleges etc., where these were identified by schools. Also, a 37-year sample survey of the NCDS cohort, focusing on basic skills, is held under SN 4992.

The UKDA also holds a number of NCDS-related files (for example, of data collected in the course of a special study of handicapped school-leavers, at age 18 (held under SN 2024) and the data from a 5% feasibility study, conducted at age 20 (held under SN 2025), which preceded NCDS4. A parent migration dataset, based on NCDS5, is held under SN 4324, and a study detailing partnership histories, compiled from NCDS sweeps 5 and 6, is held under SN 5217.

Further information about the full NCDS series can be found on the CLS NCDS web pages.

The Local Authority Data, 1958-1974: Special Licence Access cover Local Authority identifiers for respondents to National Child Development Study: Childhood Data, Sweeps 0-3, 1958-1974 (see under SN 5565). Identifiers at region level are included in SN 5565, which is available under the standard End User Licence, but these Local Authority data are subject to more restrictive access conditions (see 'Access' section below). Those users who wish to make an application for these data should contact ESDS Longitudinal for further details.

For the second edition (August 2008), the serial number has been replaced with a new one, variable Ncdsid. This change has been made for all datasets in the NCDS series. Further information may be found in the ‘CLS Confidentiality and Data Security Review’, included in the documentation.


Main Topics:
The data include Local Authority codes for PMS/NCDS respondents. See documentation for further details.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: Fieldwork for the PMS took place in 1958, NCDS1 in 1965-1966, NCDS2 in 1969 and NCDS3 in 1974.
Country: Great Britain
Spatial Units: Local Authorities.
Observation Units: Individuals; Families/households
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:Children in Great Britain born in one week in March 1958.

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
Sampling Procedures: No sampling (total universe)
All cases in the PMS and NCDS sweeps 1-3 were included.
Number of Units: 18,558 cases.
Method of Data Collection: Compilation or synthesis of existing material
Weighting: No weighting used.

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Additional special conditions of use also apply. See terms and conditions for further information.
In addition, ESDS is required to request permission from the depositor prior to supplying the data.
Available to UK applicants only.

Please note:
Since these data pose a higher risk of disclosure than data made available under the standard End User Licence they have additional special conditions attached to them that take the form of a Special Licence (SL). The SL requires the completion of an additional application form, agreement to the conditions of the SL, the signature(s) of the researcher(s) and the institution(s) with responsibility for the researcher(s), and the explicit permission of the data owners to release the data to the researcher(s). This is to ensure that the guarantee of confidentiality given to survey respondents is protected. SL applications are screened by UKDA and the data owners and data are only released to those researchers requiring data for statistical research purposes and who can justify their need for the SL data.

Researchers are required to keep the data under conditions of greater security than required under the standard End User Licence. The ESDS Guide to good practice: micro data handling and security explains how to meet these conditions.
Availability: ESDS Longitudinal, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: longitudinal@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 30 October 2007
Latest Edition: 14 August 2008 ( 2nd Edition )

Copyright:
Copyright University of London. Centre for Longitudinal Studies

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