Abstract
The term big data is currently a buzzword in social science, however its precise meaning is ambiguous. In this paper we focus on administrative data which is a distinctive form of big data. Exciting new opportunities for social science research will be afforded by new administrative data resources, but these are currently under appreciated by the research community. The central aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges associated with administrative data. We emphasise that it is critical for researchers to carefully consider how administrative data has been produced. We conclude that administrative datasets have the potential to contribute to the development of high-quality and impactful social science research, and should not be overlooked in the emerging field of big data.
Highlights
Big data is heralded as a powerful new resource for social science research
In this paper we aim to provide a thorough treatment of administrative data which is one particular type of big data
When administrative social science data are organised for conventional social science research they are indistinguishable from the familiar rectangular variable by case matrices from conventional social surveys, where a variable is recorded in each column and each case is allocated to a row
Summary
Big data is heralded as a powerful new resource for social science research. The excitement around big data emerges from the recognition of the opportunities it may offer to advance our understanding of human behaviour and social phenomenon in a way that has never been possible before (see for example Burrows and Savage, 2014; Kitchin, 2014a,b; Manovich, 2011; Schroeder, 2014). We argue that there are multiple types of big data and that each of these offer new opportunities in specific areas of social investigation. These different types of big data will often require different analytical approaches and a clearer understanding of the specific nature of the data is vital for undertaking appropriate analyses. Administrative data can be generally described as data which are derived from the operation of administrative systems (e.g. data collected by government agencies for the purposes of registration, transaction and record keeping) (Elias, 2014) We emphasise this form of big data for two reasons. We discuss the opportunities and challenges offered by the use of administrative data resources in social science research
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