Impact
Using qualitative labour market data
We hold a variety of studies that deal with the labour market and have a qualitative element. This includes projects based entirely upon qualitative methods as well as collections that use a mixed methods approach. In addition some of the older ‘classic’ studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s investigated work and labour relations. Although initially created and preserved in analogue formats – such as typescript and audio tape – we have digitised these materials and made them available for digital download. This includes research such as Education and the Working Class: Some General Themes Raised by a Study of 88 Working-Class Children in a Northern Industrial City, 1946-1960 by Dennis Marsden and Brian Jackson, and Family Life and Work Experience Before 1918 (The Edwardians) by Paul Thompson.
The theme of the labour market is also strongly represented by more recent research that has been added to our online catalogue. This includes collections such as Market for Migrant Domestic and Sex Workers, 2002-2006, Transnational Seafarers, 1999-2001, and Young People in Jobs Without Training, 2007. A further example is Class and Ethnicity: Polish Migrant Workers in London, 1996-2006 which may serve as a useful case study of research into the labour market.
Researching the labour market using a qualitative study
The research project conducted by John Eade and Michal Garapich is archived as SN 6056 Class and Ethnicity: Polish Migrant Workers in London, 1996-2006. It comprises 57 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with Polish nationals living in London and their friends and family in four locations in Poland. There is also one set of fieldwork notes conducted in Poland. Interviews were conducted in Polish and transcribed directly into English by the researcher.
A majority of interviewees had been in London for no more than two years. Although some in the sample were very recent migrants, others had been living in the capital for almost a decade. Interviews were conducted across sections of age, education and occupational activity and the sample was weighted in order to be consistent with the more general statistical data gathered by the Home Office Workers Registration Scheme and the Labour Force Survey.
The study examined the social and economic links respondents maintained with relatives and friends in Poland. It also focussed on how Polish migrant workers understand their socio-economic position within London and in Poland, and the ways in which this understanding may be analysed in terms of class and ethnicity.
How could the data be used for research?
This data could be re-used both for substantive research into the labour market and other topics and as an exemplar of good methodology and research management. One of the most promising opportunities is for comparative research on labour market migration. Comparisons could be made with other geographies and across occupations (the Archive also holds data on Scottish migration to south-east England and on migrants employed as domestic workers and in the sex industry). The Polish workers study also contains ample information in addition to the focal topics of labour markets and migration. These may not have all been central to the work of the original research team but they have been identified during our preparation of the materials. These include subjects such as Polishness, transnationalism, religion, and class.
” …These people take example from the elders… and if the biggest ambition of every young person is to leave this country… so what hope there is for us? I have this neighbour who has two sons… they study and say that they don’t want to stay more than five minutes more than is needed. They will go the same day they will graduate. They don’t want to set up a family or anything…that was from beginning… who left Jaslo, went to richer area of Poland comes back in an expensive car… it’s enough to look what cars come from the West. It doesn’t happen that people who leave come back poor. Most come richer. So what the example is there? The losers who stay here… and I am the one… we just agree to this, are just happy with what we have… I would simply miss my family. I need someone close… I understand that people go there to help the family but to scarify seeing this child grow, walk, talk… just for the money? No. How many examples we see that parents go, leave a small child and come back when the child goes to Holy Communion… and the child is damaged because for him there is only one thing: money. If the parents left for money, it means that money is above love… I know many children like these… what values they have? Only material gains, only to have things…”
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As can be seen from the quote above, the study is full of examples that could be useful to other researchers in describing the attributes, attitudes and behaviour of participants in the original project. Since the data has been archived and made available for sharing – as opposed to being destroyed or closed to other researchers – it can be used for comparative research or as a foundation for other research projects.
Finding the data
The study SN 6056 – Class and Ethnicity: Polish Migrant Workers in London, 1996-2006 can be found through Discover searching under the principal investigator, the title or the study number.
The Data Catalogue record provides a comprehensive overview of the study, including abstract, sample information and methodological details.
User documentation for this study, including both a user guide in PDF and a data list in Excel, can be downloaded from the Data Catalogue record before an order for the actual data is placed.
Users can take advantage of the documentation to familiarise themselves further with the archived material. Study-related documentation can be accessed by either scrolling to the bottom of the catalogue record or by clicking on the documentation link at the top of the page.
In the data list file, users can have a closer look at key characteristics of the study participants, such as age, occupation, gender, education, length of time in London, etc.
Users can also read a study-specific user guide which provides an insight into how the study was designed and then carried out. The content of the user guide varies from collection to collection since it relies on how much documentation has been deposited. In the case of this collection the guide is a 231-page document including the full end of award report, interview schedule, consent forms, discussion papers and notes on presentations and media coverage of the project.
Reviewing the catalogue record and documentation will give data users a good overview of the material available as well as offering a picture of the context in which the study took place. There are also links within the catalogue record to project web pages maintained by the ESRC.
Other sources for similar data
The Research and Statistics section of the Department of Work and Pensions provides data on the labour market to researchers through its web pages. In addition there are a number of universities and non-government organisations interested in these issues such as the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the University of Leicester, the Centre for European Labour Market Research at the University of Aberdeen and the Welsh Economy and Labour Market Evaluation and Research Centre at Swansea University. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation promotes research into the future UK labour market and has a particular interest in rates of pay and job security.
Downloading the data
This study’s original interview material can be easily accessed online and downloaded in RTF format. Data can be ordered by clicking on the ‘Download/Order’ tab in the catalogue record.