A University of Essex led census data project will create an unparalleled historical research resource that will transform the understanding of a Britain between the years of 1851-1911. The £1.06m project, a collaboration between the Essex History Department and the UK Data Archive (UKDA), will compile more than 200 million individual records from historic censuses..
The so-called Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It represents the largest collection of its kind in the world and will be unique in that it represents the entire British population, not just a sample.
Professor K. Schürer, and Dr Edward Higgs are leading the project. Professor Schürer said: ‘These records contain vast amounts of information on every house, household and individual in the country and are the basis of much of our knowledge of changing social and economic structures over this period. Bringing them together will completely transform our ability to research this period.’
I-CeM will combine computerised versions of the censuses that have been created by public and commercial bodies at a cost over many years of more than 11 million pounds. Professor Schürer added: ‘What we are doing is creating a fantastic historical resource for use by UK and international researchers, teachers, students and others for educational purposes at a fraction of the money that has been spent by others in this field to date. This will put British social scientific research at the forefront of international efforts in this field.’
Once the I-CeM project is complete, it will enable global researchers in a wide variety of fields to carry out studies of the highest quality.
Read the full press release here.
Content added on 13 January 2009.
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