Providing Data on the European Level

Abstract

This paper reviews the potential demand for and the provision of European data for social scientific research. The concept of data provision is defined broadly, covering the ease with which specific types of data can be discovered, interpreted, readily understood and accessed by researchers. The paper is structured as follows. First, it addresses the issue of why researchers need European (as opposed to national) data resources. This leads in to a short section discussing the potential demand for data at the European level. The main section focuses on the nature of various data resources currently available or under development. Finally, it concludes with an assessment of the need for new and/or improved data infrastructures and suggests where efforts could be focused in order to respond to such needs. Four areas are identified where there is a clear need for new European research data resources to be developed. These are: - a European Household Panel - facilities to encourage comparative analysis of birth and other age cohort studies - a European organization-based longitudinal survey - improved access to microdata records held by Eurostat