The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a continuing, multi-disciplinary

longitudinal study A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over short or long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of obs ...

which follows the lives of 17,415 people born in England, Scotland and Wales from 17,205 women during the week of 3–9 March 1958. The results from this study helped reduce infant mortality and were instrumental in improving maternity services in the UK.

History

The origins of the NCDS can be found in the Perinatal Mortality Survey (PMS) which was then sponsored by the National Birthday Trust Fund and set up to collect information about the social and

obstetric Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...

factors associated with

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term ...

and death in early infancy.Catalogue - National Child Development Study: Sweep 8, 2008-2009
UK Data Service, University of Essex, retrieved September 21, 2009 The NCDS was first led by the paediatrician Neville Butler assisted by the National Birthday Trust Fund. The survey was initially planned as a one-off study to investigate the reasons for the relatively high rate of stillbirths (38.5 stillbirths per 1,000 births) in the UK compared to other developed countries. 98% of women (17,205) who gave birth in England, Scotland and Wales to 17,415 babies during the week of 3–9 March 1958 completed the survey. Records of birth deaths to 7,618 women and about 5,000 autopsy reports were also collected over the period of March–May 1958. In 1963 the Plowden Committee which was investigating the education of primary children in the UK and the transition to secondary school, commissioned a follow-up report on the children from the NCDS. This follow-up survey was led by

Mia Kellmer Pringle Mia Lilly Kellmer Pringle (20 June 1920 – 21 February 1983) was an Austrian-British child psychologist. She was the founding director of the British National Children's Bureau, where she oversaw the influential National Child Development Stu ...

and attempts were made to trace all members of this birth generational cohort. The survey took place in 1965 and results were included in the

Plowden report The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education (England) into Primary education in England. The report, entitled ''Children and their Primary Schools'', reviewed primary education in a wh ...

''Children and their Primary Schools'' in 1967. By 2016 the NCDS has been conducted in nine different sweeps to get information concerning the physical, educational and social development of the people from the initial survey: in 1965, 1969, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1999–2000, 2004, 2008 and 2014. The following sweep was planned for 2018. Examples of topics which have been included are medical care, health, home environment, educational progress, parental involvement, family relationships, economic activity, income, training and housing. During the period 2002–2004, genetic information on participants was also obtained to examine the genetic effects on common traits and diseases. Following the initial birth survey, the four subsequent sweeps were carried out by the

National Children's Bureau The National Children’s Bureau works collaboratively across the issues affecting children to influence policy and get services working together to deliver a better childhood. Established in 1963, they have been at the forefront of campaigning f ...

. In 1985, the NCDS was moved to the Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU), which in 2016 was known as the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS).

Methodology and scope

In the 2013–2014 sweep data collection involved a sequential mixed mode approach whereby cohort members were invited to complete a web survey and those not responding were invited to participate via telephone. More than 9,100 cohort members took part in total, with 60% doing so on-line.

Survey results

, the results of the NCDS have been used in over 2,500 publications, some of which can be foun
here
The report ''Now we are 50'' with the key findings of the NCDS was published by the CLS on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the NCDS in 2008.

Re-using the data

The data and additional study information are available on the

United Kingdom Data Service United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(UKDS) website. Users are required to register in order to access the download section.

References

Bibliography

{{Cite book, title = Born to Fail?, last1 = Wedge, first1 = Peter, last2 = Prosser, first2 = Hilary, publisher = Arrow Books Ltd, year = 1973, isbn = 978-0099082804, location = UK, pages = 64

External links

CLS website

UKDS website

Summary statistics of genetic information from the 2002-2004 followup
(mostly

Single-nucleotide polymorphism In genetics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP ; plural SNPs ) is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome. Although certain definitions require the substitution to be present in a sufficiently lar ...

s). British medical research Society of the United Kingdom Child development Child welfare in the United Kingdom Cohort studies UCL Institute of Education 1958 establishments in the United Kingdom