Research output per year
Research output per year
Personal profile
Biography
Data Skills Training
I am the Director of User Support and Training, and Co-Investigator for the UK Data Service. I lead the UK Data Service programme of training events, web-based training resources and online help for researchers and teachers using the quantitative and qualitative data hosted by the UK Data Service.
I have held the following teaching roles:
- Lecturer and dissertation supervisor: Dissertation Module, MSc Social Research Methods and Statistics
- Lecturer: Unequal Societies, a first year undergraduate module on using data to explore health inequalities
Research
My two research interests are (1) data literacy skills (2) health inequalities. I have held research roles within academia, central government and the voluntary sector. I have experience of quantitative and qualitative research and primary data collection and secondary analysis of data. Before joining the Cathie Marsh Institute I worked at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as a survey researcher on large-scale national surveys.
Grants awarded:
2024-2030: Co-Investigator. UK Data Service. Funded by ESRC.
2024-2027: Principal Investigator. Building computational capacity among global data service staff. Funded by UKRI
2022-2024: Principal Investigator. Building data skills capacity in Doctoral Training Partnerships. Funded by White Rose DTP, Midlands DTP and Scottish Graduate School.
2021-2022: Principal Investigator. CESSDA Training. Funded by Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
2018-2020: Principal Investigator. Data Discovery & Research Data Management training. Funded by Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
2019: Co-Investigator. EmpoderaData fostering data literacy skills in Latin America. Funded by UK Research Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund Research Partnership Development Award
2018-2019: Principal Investigator. Data Skills for Development Data: Creating a Network for an ODA Hub. Funded by University of Manchester, Faculty of Humanities Strategic Investment Fund: Internationalisation
2016-2017: Principal Investigator. Data Discovery Training Needs Analysis in Europe. Funded by Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
2012: Co-Investigator. Preparing Methodbox for National Service
2008-2009: Principal Investigator. Ethnic differences in obesity, diet and physical activity. Funded by Economic and Social Research Council
2007-2012: Co-Investigator. Economic and Social Data Service: Added value of large scale government datasets. Funded by Economic and Social Research Council
2007-2008: Co-Investigator. Increasing the use of large scale social surveys in undergraduate dissertations in the Social Science: A pilot project. Funded by Economic and Social Research Council
Other activity
- PhD examiner (internal and examiner)
- Editorial Board Member: Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Advisory Board Member: National Centre for Research Methods
- Advisory Board Member: Methods@Manchester
- Task & Finish Group Member: Administrative Data Research UK Training
- Member of ESRC Peer Review College
Membership of Professional Associations:
- European Survey Research Association
- Social Research Association
- International Association for Social Science Information Service & Technology
- Society for Social Medicine & Population Health
- Royal Statistical Society
- International Statistical Institute
- Institute for the Association of Statistical Education
Social responsibility
Specific research interests:
Keywords: Survey Research; Health and lifestyle, Ethnicity, Obesity, Diet, Physical Activity.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Digital Futures
- Cathie Marsh Institute
Keywords
- Survey Research
- Health and lifestyle
- Ethnicity
- Obesity
- Diet
- Physical Activity
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Thinking Creatively About the Data Skills Gap: How Online Training Events Are Supporting SHAPE Higher Education Students
Higgins, V. & Carter, J., 15 May 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education. p. 1-12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The UK Data Service Data Skills Framework for working with large scale survey data, census, and macro-level aggregate data
Higgins, V., Price, D. & King-Hele, S., 3 May 2024, Zenodo.Research output: Preprint/Working paper › Discussion paper
Open Access -
Developing data literacy: how data services and data fellowships are creating data skilled social researchers
Higgins, V. & Carter, J., 30 Sept 2022, In: IASSIST Quarterly (Print). 46, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Ethnic density and area-deprivation effects on central obesity among ethnic minority people in England – a cross-sectional, multi-level analysis
Higgins, V., 5 Oct 2022, In: Frontiers in Epidemiology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Rethinking the Teaching of University Statistics: Challenges and Opportunities Learned from the Colombia–UK Dialogue
Méndez-Romero, R. A., Carter, J., Carrerá-Martínez, S., Suavita-Ramírez, M. A. & Higgins, V., 23 Dec 2022, In: Mathematics. 11, 1, 52.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
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UKDS: UK Data Service (UKDS) 2024 - 2030
Price, D. (PI) & Higgins, V. (CoI)
1/04/24 → 31/03/30
Project: Research
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Lifelong Health
Price, D. (PI), Haarmans, M. (PI), Chandola, T. (PI), Higgins, V. (PI), Smith, N. (PI), Hannemann, T. (PI), Doran, P. (PI), Prattley, J. (PI), Taylor, H. (PI), Williams, B. (PI), Webber, R. (PI), Phillipson, C. (PI), Nazroo, J. (PI), Yarker, S. (PI), Shryane, N. (PI), Buffel, T. (PI), Cotterell, N. (PI), James, H. (PI), Pendleton, N. (PI), Mekli, K. (PI), Chatzi, G. (PI), Rémillard-Boilard, S. (PI), Pashazadeh, F. (PI), Li, Y. (PI), Matthews, K. (PI), Tampubolon, G. (PI), Kapadia, D. (PI), Gosling, Z. (Support team) & Zhang, N. (PI)
1/08/19 → 30/09/22
Project: Research
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Data Skills and Training Research Group
Price, D. (PI), King-Hele, S. (PI), Mackey, E. (PI), Williams, L. (PI), Higgins, V. (PI), Smyth, P. (PI), Kapadia, D. (PI), Buckley, J. (PI), Morales-Gómez, A. (PI), Carter, J. (PI), Shlomo, N. (PI), Meadows, G. (PI), Brown, M. (PI), Pampaka, M. (PI), Elliot, M. (PI), Spencer, C. (PI), Swift, L. (PI) & Gosling, Z. (Support team)
1/08/19 → 30/09/22
Project: Research
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Ethnicity and Migration
Laurence, J. (PI), Ali-Moore, R. (PI), Campion, K. (PI), Chandola, T. (PI), Begum, N. (PI), Haarmans, M. (PI), Hannemann, T. (PI), Higgins, V. (PI), Shankley, W. (PI), Buffel, T. (PI), Shryane, N. (PI), Brown, M. (PI), Wisniowski, A. (PI), Peters, S. (PI), Sobolewska, M. (PI), Ford, R. (PI), Nazroo, J. (PI), Kapadia, D. (CoI), Byrne, B. (PI), Troncoso Ruiz, P. (PI), Li, Y. (PI), Harris, S. (PI), Aparicio-Castro, A. (PI), Taylor, H. (PI), Cotterell, N. (PI), Chambers, R. (PI), Castillo Jaramillo, J. (PI) & Gosling, Z. (Support team)
1/08/19 → 30/09/22
Project: Research
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Activities
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The UK Data Service Data Skills Framework
Higgins, V. (Speaker)
11 Sept 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › Research
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Developing quantitative data driven research skills in social science students outside the classroom
Higgins, V. (Speaker)
3 Sept 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › Research
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Developing Foundational Quantitative Data Skills
Higgins, V. (Speaker)
14 Jun 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › Research
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How Online Training Events are Supporting the Development of Quantitative Data Skills in social science students: a qualitative research project
Higgins, V. (Speaker)
6 May 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › Research
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School of Social Sciences Research Showcase
Higgins, V. (Invited speaker)
2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk › Research
Press/Media
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COVID-19: Social surveys are now more important than ever
14/05/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Blogs and social media
Thesis
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Ethnic Differences in Obesity
Higgins, V. (Author), Brown, M. (Supervisor) & Nazroo, J. Y. (Supervisor), 31 Dec 2017Student thesis: Phd
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