Using BiB data in the teaching of Data Management and Analysis skills to Postgraduate students (including its use in MSc dissertation projects).

Data analysis and management skills are widely prized within many workplaces, increasingly being viewed as essential skills within a growing number of professions. For researchers, in particular, learning how to effectively organise, analyse and present data is a core component of their training.
Training in such skills is generally considered to be more effective when it involves students learning how to work with authentic real-world datasets though, rather than fake “dummy-datasets”, which have been created purely for the purposes of teaching. Dummy-datasets are often over-simplified in terms of their structure and the (fake) data they contain typically lacks the level of complexity present in genuine, real-world, datasets (e.g. high-levels of missing data, data entry errors, unusual and/or biased response patterns within the data). This then leaves students unprepared for the challenges they will encounter later, when working with real datasets, in their professional lives. For example, in jobs that involve working with patient and/or client data in Health, Education and/or Social Care settings.
Consequently, this data request seeks access to a subset of BiB’s datasets for use within university-level teaching. This will enable BiB data to be used in Data Management and Analysis training activities that are offered by the applicant, in their role as a Teaching Fellow. This includes the use of BiB data by postgraduate students within their MSc dissertation projects, under the supervision of the applicant.