Contained in:
Book Chapter

Capturing Lifelong Learning Data through International Surveys and Novel Innovative Methods

  • Ellen Boeren
  • Catherine Lido

Previous literature has highlighted the predominant use of qualitative research methods within the field of adult education. While a wide range of opportunities to exploit and gather large scale quantitative data are available, these avenues remain underexplored. The aims of this chapter are twofold. First, it familiarises readers with a range of datasets gathered through international survey programmes managed by International Governmental Organisations. Examples include the European Commission’s Adult Education Survey, the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), UNESCO’s Literacy and Assessment Programme (LAMP) and the World Bank’s STEP Skills Measurement Programme. It links the existence of these survey programmes to a wider debate on the use of benchmarks and indicators underpinning data-driven policy approaches. Second, it discusses examples of the application of novel and innovative methods that have been used to capture lifelong learning data in real-world projects. It highlights the work undertaken by the University of Glasgow’s Urban Big Data Centre, and zooms in on research undertaken within the Integrated Multimedia City Data (iMCD) project. Its work is being discussed against wider developments in relation to the use of ‘big data’ in the social sciences. Throughout the chapter, we reference the limitations of large survey and innovative data work, such as issues relating to privacy and the difficulties in including hard-to-reach groups. We focus on cooperative work in interdisciplinary teams with colleagues from varying methodological backgrounds who can contribute to projects underpinned by triangulation to provide comprehensive answers to relevant research questions.

  • Keywords:
  • Big Data,
  • Innovative Methods,
  • International Governmental Organizations,
  • Quantitative Methods,
  • Survey Research,
+ Show More

Ellen Boeren

University of Glasgow, United Kingdom - ORCID: 0000-0002-2285-5814

Catherine Lido

University of Glasgow, United Kingdom - ORCID: 0000-0002-6255-9905

  1. Ajzen, Icek, and Martin Fishbein. 1975. “A Bayesian Analysis of Attribution Processes.” Psychological bulletin 82 (2): 261.
  2. Ball, Stephen. 2017. Governing by Numbers: Education, Governance, and the Tyranny of Numbers. London: Routledge.
  3. Bell, Emma, Bryman Adam, and Bill Harley. 20195. Business Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. Boeren, Ellen. 2014. “Evidence-Based Policy-Making: The Usability of the Eurostat Adult Education Survey.” International Journal of Lifelong Education 33 (3): 275-89. DOI: 10.1080/02601370.2014.891887
  5. Boeren, Ellen. 2018. “The Methodological Underdog: A Review of Quantitative Research in the Key Adult Education Journals.” Adult Education Quarterly 68 (1): 63-79. DOI: 10.1177/0741713617739347
  6. Boeren, Ellen, and Kjell Rubenson. 2022. “The Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE): Strengths, Weaknesses and Future Directions.” International Review of Education 68 (2): 291-308. DOI: 10.1007/s11159-022-09945-x
  7. Bown, Lalage. 1990. Preparing the Future: Women, Literacy and Development. The Impact of Female Literacy on Human Development and the Participation of Literate Women in Change. ActionAid Development Report No. 4. Chard: Actionaid.
  8. Bown, Lalage. 1999. “Beyond the Degree: Men and Women at the Decision-making Levels in British Higher Education.” Gender and Education 11 (1): 5-25. DOI: 10.1080/09540259920735
  9. Bown, Lalage. 2000. “Lifelong Learning: Ideas and Achievements at the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century.” Compare: A Journal of Comparative International Education 30 (3): 341-51.
  10. Bryman, Adam. 20155. Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  11. Cebula, Carla, Baines Katie N., Lido Catherine, Thijssen Job H.J., Halliday K., Hedge Nicki, Mulvana Helen, and Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay. 2021. “Inclusion in the Time of COVID: 14 Ways to Seize the Moment for Change.” Nature Index, 9 February. <https://www.nature.com/nature-index/news/inclusion-time-covid-pandemic-how-to-seize-the-moment-for-change> (2023-07-01).
  12. Elfert, Maren, and Kjell Rubenson. 2023. “Lifelong Learning: Researching a Contested Concept in the 21st Century.” In Third International Handbook on Lifelong Learning, edited by Karen Evans, Jörg Markowitsch, Wing O. Lee, and Miriam Zukas, 1219-43. Dordrecht: Springer.
  13. Eynon, Rebecca. 2013. “The Rise of Big Data: What Does It Mean for Education, Technology, and Media Research?” Learning, Media and Technology 38 (3): 237-40. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2013.771783
  14. Fejes, Andreas, and Erik Nylander. 2019. Mapping out the Research Field of Adult Education and Learning. Cham: Springer.
  15. Guadalupe, Cesar, and Manuel Cardoso. 2011. “Measuring the Continuum of Literacy Skills Among Adults: Educational Testing and the LAMP Experience.” International Review of Education 57 (1-2): 199-217. DOI: 10.1007/s11159-011-9203-2
  16. Halford, Susan, and Mike Savage. 2017. “Speaking Sociologically with Big Data: Symphonic Social Science and the Future for Big Data Research.” Sociology 51 (6): 1132-48. DOI: 10.1177/0038038517698639
  17. Holford, John, Boyadjieva Pepka, Clancy Sharon, Hefler Günter, and Ivana Studená, edited by. 2023. Lifelong Learning, Young Adults and the Challenges of Disadvantage in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  18. Lido, Catherine, Osborne Michael, Livingston Mark, Thakuriah Piyushimita, and Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka. 2016. “Older Learning Engagement in the Modern City.” International Journal of Lifelong Education 35 (5): 490-508.
  19. Lido, Catherine, Reid Kate, and Michael Osborne. 2020. “Blurring Boundaries: Exploring the Potential for ‘Big Data’ to Address Inequalities in Lifewide Learning Engagement.” In Inequality, Innovation and Reform in Higher Education: Challenges of Migration and Ageing Populations, edited by Maria Slowey, Hans G. Schuetze, and Tanya Zubrzycki, 265-83. Cham: Springer.
  20. Liu, Huacong, Fernandez Frank, and Anke Grotlüschen. 2019. “Examining Self-directedness and Its Relationships with Lifelong Learning and Earnings in Yunnan, Vietnam, Germany, and the United States.” International Journal of Educational Development 70: 102088. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2019.102088
  21. Marmot, Michael, Allen Jessica, Boyce Tammy, Goldblatt Peter, and Joana Morrison, edited by. 2020. Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On. London: Institute of Health Equit. <https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/the-marmot-review-10-years-on> (2023-07-01).
  22. Osborne, Mchael, and Catherine Lido. 2015. “Lifelong Learning and Big Data.” In Adult Education in an Interconnected World: Cooperation in Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development, edited by Uwe Gartenschlaeger, and Esther Hirsch, 116-25. Bonn: DVV International.
  23. Smith, Emma. 2008. “Pitfalls and Promises: The Use of Secondary Data Analysis in Educational Research.” British Journal of Educational Studies 56 (3): 323-39.
  24. UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning. 2012. “UNESCO Guidelines for the Recognition, Validation and Accreditation of the Outcomes of Non-formal and Informal Learning.” UNESCO Digital Library. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002163/216360e.pdf> (2023-07-01).
  25. Valiente, Oscar, and Moosung Lee. 2020. “Exploring the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC): Implications for Comparative Education Research and Policy.” Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 50 (2): 155-64.
  26. Wiseman, June, and Emma Parry. 2017. Continuing Vocational Training Survey: CVTS 5. London: BMG Research.
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 207-219
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Capturing Lifelong Learning Data through International Surveys and Novel Innovative Methods

Authors

Ellen Boeren, Catherine Lido

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0253-4.22

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Adult Education and Social Justice: International Perspectives

Editors

Maria Slowey, Heribert Hinzen, Michael Omolewa, Michael Osborne

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

324

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0253-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0252-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0253-4

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0254-1

Series Title

Studies on Adult Learning and Education

Series ISSN

2704-596X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5781

117

Fulltext
downloads

156

Views

Export Citation

1,339

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,191

Book Chapters

3,763,352

Fulltext
downloads

4,396

Authors

from 923 Research Institutions

of 65 Nations

64

scientific boards

from 348 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,246

Referees

from 379 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations