CLOSER Discovery sees an addition of over 20,000 variables and 2,000 questions in its latest update this week.
CLOSER Discovery enables researchers to view and appraise longitudinal data, with options to search by keyword or browse by topic. Each search provides a summary of the data available, how they were collected (including questions and questionnaire design), and allows users to filter their search results by study, topic and life stage.
The largest contributions in this update come from the 1946 and 1970 British birth cohorts. Diet and medication variable metadata from the 1946 MRC National Survey of Health and Development study have been added as well as the 1970 British Cohort Study interviews at age 38 and age 42. In addition, a second questionnaire from Phase 1 of the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) has been added. For details of all content currently in Discovery please visit the content page.
The next update will prioritise the Covid-19 questionnaires and datasets. Longitudinal studies have responded rapidly to the Covid-19 pandemic by launching new questionnaires which will be added to CLOSER Discovery in July 2020. This will allow users to search and browse the Covid-19 questions and variables from across the studies all in one place. It will also highlight similar questions across the different studies for cross-study comparison.
For more information about these surveys, visit the CLOSER’s COVID-19 Longitudinal Research Hub and sign up to the new COVID-19 Update Bulletin.
Help improve CLOSER Discovery
CLOSER Discovery relies on feedback from users to improve its functionality and utility. If you notice errors, experience problems, or have suggestions for useful features, please contact the CLOSER Metadata Team at closer@ucl.ac.uk.