Title: The data collectors
Course: UGQuants (SSPS) > Section: Beyond data collection and analysis

The data collectors

Having considered sources of funding for data collection, we now move to consider who actually collects the data. Data collection for large surveys is carried out by a number of bodies in the UK. The key bodies are:

1 | State institutions, such as the Office for National Statistics and government departments
2 | Charitable bodies such as NatCen/ScotCen
3 | Private sector social and market research agencies
4 | Universities and other higher education institutions;
5 | Public sector organisations such as the National Health Service.

We will discuss the first three of these data collectors, namely, the Office for National Statistics, NatCen/ScotCen, and a range of private sector social and market research agencies. Discussion of these data collectors will serve to illustrate that the business of research and data collection is a vast industry beyond academia.