A year in Open Data
Happy Open Data Day!! OK, I’m early, the big day isn’t until Saturday 5 March but we wanted you to have time to get your party hats, balloons and cakes all ready for the weekend (if you needed an excuse …
Adventures in Digital Ethnography
Three intrepid researchers deliver ECC’s first in-house digital ethnography. It’s been a daring adventure and a leap of faith for us to combine an online tool (Incling) with research skills, for a project about mental health support.
Influencing hearts and minds through research
Recently we completed a research project with survivors of domestic abuse, and wanted to share a bit about how we did it and why it was so important to us that this research has an impact. We engaged with survivors of domestic abuse over a period of several months, to explore how they want to share their views, provide feedback and be involved in decision-making, in a way that is best for them.
Getting back out there…doing research while masked up
This week our team visited a high school in Essex to talk to sixth formers about their experiences of Covid-19 in terms of the impact to their mental health, relationships, education and future opportunities. Updated guidance meant that all pupils were now expected to wear face masks in classrooms, so this went for us researchers too...
A resident’s perspective on the Data Ethics Committee
As a newcomer to the Data Ethics Committee (DEC), I was unsure what to expect from my first meeting. From being a teacher, through to becoming a head teacher, and ultimately to working as an Essex School Advisor I have …
Data Inclusivity: creating a shared language
Data provides the opportunity to generate insight on some of our biggest challenges affecting people in Essex. In the public sector we talk about the potential of joining data held by our organisations to gain valuable new insight about how …
Assessing the strength of communities in Essex
We commissioned Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) to undertake a review of community need and ‘left behind’ areas in Essex. The review sought to help us understand how Essex compares to other areas in terms of its levels of community need, and which factors are more significant than others in contributing to areas having high levels of need.
Excellence in Government Analytics Awards
I’ve written a lot of blogs here, but I’m particularly honoured to write this one to celebrate winning the Sir Ian Diamond Award for Excellence in Government Analytics only yesterday. Sir Ian Diamond is the National Statistician for the UK …
Want to understand inequality? A Gini can make your wish come true…
So, what is a Gini, and can it grant me three wishes..? A Gini coefficient is an economic measure used to describe how a resource is distributed among a population. It allows us to see when a resource is not …
Visualising data in R - Part 2
In the age of 'fake news', making accurate, attractive, and informative plots is essential in bridging the gap between people and data. In Part 2 of his blog, Dr Dave Clark, takes us through the possibilities of visualising data using R so that we can tell an impactful story.