Grath-Lone LM, Jay MA, Blackburn R, Gordon E, Zylbersztejn A, Wijlaars L, Gilbert R. What makes administrative data "
research-ready"? A systematic review and thematic analysis of published literature.
Int J Popul Data Sci 2022;
7:1718. [PMID:
35520099 PMCID:
PMC9052961 DOI:
10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1718]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Administrative data are a valuable research resource, but are under-utilised in the UK due to governance, technical and other barriers (e.g., the time and effort taken to gain secure data access). In recent years, there has been considerable government investment in making administrative data "research-ready", but there is no definition of what this term means. A common understanding of what constitutes research-ready administrative data is needed to establish clear principles and frameworks for their development and the realisation of their full research potential.
Objective
To define the characteristics of research-ready administrative data based on a systematic review and synthesis of existing literature.
Methods
On 29th June 2021, we systematically searched seven electronic databases for (1) peer-reviewed literature (2) related to research-ready administrative data (3) written in the English language. Following supplementary searches and snowball screening, we conducted a thematic analysis of the identified relevant literature.
Results
Overall, we screened 2,375 records and identified 38 relevant studies published between 2012 and 2021. Most related to administrative data from the UK and US and particularly to health data. The term research-ready was used inconsistently in the literature and there was some conflation with the concept of data being ready for statistical analysis. From the thematic analysis, we identified five defining characteristics of research-ready administrative data: (a) accessible, (b) broad, (c) curated, (d) documented and (e) enhanced for research purposes.
Conclusions
Our proposed characteristics of research-ready administrative data could act as a starting point to help data owners and researchers develop common principles and standards. In the more immediate term, the proposed characteristics are a useful framework for cataloguing existing research-ready administrative databases and relevant resources that can support their development.
Collapse