Rob French leads the ADR Wales Education research theme. In this blog post, Rob describes how the intersection of education and child health data will be explored in a new special edition of the International Journal of Population Data Science.
Linking child health and education data enables us to explore the mutual dependence of these two critical policy areas affecting a vulnerable demographic.
ADR UK-funded researchers using linked health and education data from Wales (myself), Scotland (Dr Michael Fleming), England (Prof Katie Harron), and Northern Ireland (Dr Erin Early) have been collaborating to solve some of the common challenges across the UK. Recently, we have adopted a more outward-looking approach, considering how we can extend this collaboration to nations beyond the UK.
In September, we brought together researchers using linked child health and education data from 14 countries to explore opportunities for international collaborations. These partnerships are vital, as they allow us to address research questions more robustly, benefitting from larger sample sizes and the ability to cross-check measures. Health metrics are generally measured consistently across countries. However, educational measures – particularly educational attainment – are more socially constructed, so analysing this area greatly benefits from comparisons across different systems. Also, when differences in policy exist between countries, or when policy changes occur over time, we can leverage these variations to obtain more reliable estimates of their effects on child outcomes.
We are excited to announce the launch of a special edition of the International Journal of Population Data Science, the only journal dedicated solely to the field Population Data Science. This edition will focus on the potential for international collaborations using linked child health and education data. The editorial team includes representatives from the ADR UK partnership, along with colleagues from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. If you are interested in contributing to this focus call, please reach out to the team for more information.
This blog post was originally published on the ADR website.