Centre for Longitudinal Studies Resource Centre 2022 - 2025

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS, or the Centre) is home to four longstanding UK national birth cohort and longitudinal studies, the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, born 2000/1), Next Steps (born 1989/90, followed since adolescence), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), and the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS). Together with the 1946 National Study of Health and Development (NSHD), also at UCL, these form the only series of national birth cohort studies in the world, which generate impactful scientific research and policy evidence using their rich, multidisciplinary life course data. In addition to the scientific and policy value of the studies themselves, the Centre brings together scientific and operational expertise in the leadership, design, and delivery of longitudinal data collection and research.

This proposal is to support the Centre over the next three years in order to carry out major data collection projects in each of the four CLS cohorts (MCS at Age 22, Next Steps at Age 32, BCS70 at age 51, NCDS at age 62). These will be highly valuable data resources, providing evidence in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic and in the context of major economic and social change. We will create new linkages to the studies, including to health and criminal justice records, and to geo-spatial data on local environments, socio-economic conditions and amenities. A programme of work on harmonisation will create newly harmonised data and code on physical health, families, and genetic risks, facilitating cross-cohort research.

Maintaining representation and minimising attrition are central goals, which we will achieve through innovations in participant engagement and cohort maintenance, including the use of incentives and digital tracing, and by giving participants a greater voice in the development of the studies. We will undertake a programme of work in survey methods and applied statistical methods, to provide evidence on the primary challenges of minimising attrition and maximising data quality, and supporting data users in the related analytical challenges of handling missing data, adjusting for measurement error, and making causal inferences.

The data from all our data collections and linkages will be made available via UKDS and other Trusted Research Environments. We will make the studies easier to use by simplifying our data outputs, making available code to help users merge data within sweeps and longitudinally, and by developing tools to support the discoverability of our data, as well as by offering training to support diverse users and needs.

We will create and demonstrate impact by undertaking policy-relevant research on our major new data outputs, capitalising on the longitudinal value of the CLS cohorts, and cross-cohort comparisons made possible by the harmonisation work undertaken as part of this grant.

A key aspect of our work over the next three years will be deepening the academic collaborations of the Centre, including through joint working with the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, and through scientific collaborators with expertise in policy research, administrative and geo-data linkage, harmonisation, and systematic review. We will work closely with key elements of the UK's data infrastructure including ESRC's own investments and wider UKRI initiatives, and in international networks of longitudinal studies.

We have a strong Senior Leadership Team comprising highly experienced scientific and operational leads, together with a number of experienced Co-Investigators. A formal programme management approach, combined with a robust governance structure and strong institutional support, will ensure that our team can deliver this ambitious programme of work.