Vanessa Higgins

Vanessa Higgins

Dr, Dr

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):

  • SDG 1 - No Poverty
  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

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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