FAQs

 
What is the Medical Research Council?

What is the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit?

How were participants in 11 to 16 and 16+ initially selected?

Where have 11 to 16 and 16+ taken place?

How often have study members been studied?

How many study members are there?

Was approval obtained for 11 to 16 and 16+?

Is feedback provided to study members?

I'm a study member and have lost touch, how can I get back in touch?

Is the information collected by 11 to 16 and 16+ available to other researchers?

 

What is the Medical Research Council?
The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK taxpayer. It promotes research into all areas of medical and related science with the aims of improving the health and quality of life of the UK public and contributing to the wealth of the nation.

The MRC is independent in its choice of which research to support. It does however work in close partnership with Health Departments, other Research Councils, industry and others to identify and respond to current and future health needs.

What is the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit?
The MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit's aim is to:

Promote human health by the study of social and environmental influences on health.

Specific objectives include:

• Studying how people's social positions, and their social and physical environments, influence their physical and mental health and capacity to lead healthy lives;
• Designing and evaluating interventions aiming to improve public health and reduce social inequalities in health, and;
• Influencing policy and practice by communicating the results and implications of research.
   

The Unit is funded by the Medical Research Council and the Chief Scientist Office at the Scottish Government Health Department, and is based at the University of Glasgow.
 

How were participants in 11 to 16 and 16+ initially selected?
Study members were first selected when they were in the final year of primary schooling (P7). The aim was for a group who would be representative of the local population at both the primary and secondary school stages. For more details see the Study Design section of this website.
 

Where have 11 to 16 and 16 taken place?
All the schools from which study members were initially drawn were located within the Central Clydeside Conurbation. This is a socially mixed area with a population of 1.7 million in the West of Scotland, and includes the City of Glasgow.

 

How often have study members been studied?
Information has been collected at ages 11, 13 and 15 (11 to 16), and at 18-20 and 22 (16+).
 

How many study members are there?
Within 11 to 16, at age 11, 2,586 (1,335 boys and 1,251 girls) took part, at age 13 the number was 2,371 and at 15 it was 2,196. The majority (2,063) took part at all three stages.

Within 16+, 1,258 took part in the interviews at ages 18-20 and 596 returned a postal questionnaire at age 22.

 

Was approval obtained for 11 to 16 and 16+?
Approval to conduct each stage of 11 to 16 was given by the University of Glasgow Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Research Involving Human Subjects, by Strathclyde Regional Council's (SRC) Education Department (and after re-organisation, by each of the 6 relevant local authority education departments), and by the head-teachers of all selected schools. Permission for individual children to take part was obtained from parents at each phase of the study, using standard consent forms. For the Voice-DISC, an opt-in procedure was used to obtain consent from study members (then aged 15) themselves.

For 16+, in order to follow study members after school leaving, permission for the school to release home addresses was obtained from parents at age 15.

The University of Glasgow Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Research Involving Human Subjects also gave its approval for the 16+ interviews and postal questionnaire. Written consent for the 16+ interview was obtained from study members using a consent form outlining the individual components, to any of which they could opt in or out. In addition, they were told that they could refuse to answer specific questions. Study members could choose whether or not to complete and return the postal questionnaire.
 

Is feedback provided to study members?
Feedback on the results from each stage of 11 to 16 was provided to both study members and participating schools.

Examples for study members and schools are available.
 

I'm a study member and have lost touch, how can I get back in touch?
Use the Contact link in this website or email  Elaine Hindle, Survey Support Officer, MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, Tel. 0141 357 7510 or Freephone 0800 389 2129.
 

Is the information collected by 11 to 16 and 16+ available to other researchers?
All information collected as part of the study, whether held on paper copy or electronic files, is anonymised (that is, identified only by an ID number). Only authorised members of the survey team have access to the list of names and addresses. Anonymised data files are made available to the research team. Any new contacts with study members have to be cleared by an appropriate ethics committee.

Researchers from outside the Unit may apply for permission to access specified sections of the data for particular analysis, in collaboration with one or more members of the study team.

Collaborators, whether from the Unit or from other institutions, are only given access to anonymous sections of the data relevant to the proposed analysis. Any publications arising from such analysis have to be cleared by the Directors of both the study and of the Unit.  Collaborators must sign an agreement to abide by MRC principles of good research practice.

All 11 to 16 and 16+ questionnaires and interview schedules are available here.

For further information on 11 to 16 and 16+ data sharing, please contact Helen Sweeting.