An Investigation of the Consistency of Parental Occupational Information in UK Birth Records and a National Social Survey

TY - JOUR

T1 - An Investigation of the Consistency of Parental Occupational Information in UK Birth Records and a National Social Survey

AU - Connelly, Roxanne

AU - Gayle, Vernon

N1 - © The Author 2017

PY - 2017/4

Y1 - 2017/4

N2 - In the United Kingdom, new sources of administrative social science data are unfolding rapidly but the quality of these new forms of data for sociological research is yet to be established. We investigate the quality and consistency of the parental occupational information that is officially recorded on administrative birth records by undertaking a comparison with information collected from the same parents in the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We detect a large amount of missing information in the birth records and a range of inconsistencies. We present an empirical analysis of MCS data using parental social class measures derived both from the birth records and the survey to assess the effects of these discrepancies. We conclude that parental occupational information from administrative birth records should not be assumed, a priori, to be suitable for sociological analyses and that further research should be undertaken into their consistency and accuracy.

AB - In the United Kingdom, new sources of administrative social science data are unfolding rapidly but the quality of these new forms of data for sociological research is yet to be established. We investigate the quality and consistency of the parental occupational information that is officially recorded on administrative birth records by undertaking a comparison with information collected from the same parents in the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We detect a large amount of missing information in the birth records and a range of inconsistencies. We present an empirical analysis of MCS data using parental social class measures derived both from the birth records and the survey to assess the effects of these discrepancies. We conclude that parental occupational information from administrative birth records should not be assumed, a priori, to be suitable for sociological analyses and that further research should be undertaken into their consistency and accuracy.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049205420&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/esr/jcw060

DO - 10.1093/esr/jcw060

M3 - Article

SN - 0266-7215

VL - 33

SP - 240

EP - 256

JO - European Sociological Review

JF - European Sociological Review

IS - 2

ER -