Economic Impact Evaluation of the Economic and Social Data Service

Executive Summary

Background

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) evaluates the quality and impact of its research and data infrastructure investments. The Council’s Evaluation Committee operates a well-developed system for evaluating academic quality and impact, and in recent years has developed qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessing policy and practice impacts of the research projects it funds and for establishing its broader contribution to the economic and social well-being of the UK.

Through this study, the ESRC is now looking to assess the economic benefits of its investment in the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). The ESDS is a distributed service based on a partnership between the Universities of Essex and Manchester, and is co-funded by ESRC and JISC. The annual operating budget for ESDS is around £3.3 million. There are around 23,000 active users of the ESDS, including users from outside the academic community. The overall aim of the ESDS is to promote wider and more informed use of data for research and teaching in the social sciences and to ensure that these data continue to be available over time.

This report provides an overview of methods and approaches explored in the study, issues encountered and our findings and recommendations.

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