News - BES Resources
Here you will find a range of resources we think may be helpful in understanding British elections and in analysing BES data. We will be adding podcasts, powerpoint presentations and further information to make the analysis of BES data as straightforward as possible.
The following links may be helpful in accessing statistical software commonly used to analyse social science data:
• stata
• SPSS
• Installing R
• RStudio
Trading places? Left-right placement in Scotland. By Professor Phil Cowley
‘But what about the SNP?’ That’s what I’ve been asked most, after writing a blog on the way the public see the ideological positions of the parties. With ‘normal’ opinion polls it’s difficult to do sensible inter-country comparisons– because the number of respondents outside of…
Are we influenced by how our friends vote?
Political scientists have known for a long time that talking politics to family and friends makes a difference to how people vote. Bob Huckfeldt of University of California Davis pioneered the use of data on the political discussion networks of electors, and showed how voters…
British Election Study Film: Understanding British Democracy
The British Election Study team are pleased to announce the release of their film ‘The British Election Study: Understanding British Democracy’. The film was launched during a British Election Study event for journalists, politicians and researchers entitled ‘Insights into the 2015 General Election’, held at…
Studying politics? Come play in the Data Playground
The British Election Study has now made its data collected in 2014 available to anyone who wants to know what the nation thinks about politics. Called the Data Playground, the politically interested can now get their hands on BES data, for free, without the need for specialist…
An electoral system fit for purpose?
The British Election Study is lucky enough to have a board of eminent experts in the world of politics who advise on how our data can reach a broad range of users outside academia. The group, whose members span the three main British political parties…
All Roads lead to UKIP? By Geoff Evans and Jon Mellon (University...
Do the Conservatives or Labour need to worry most about UKIP in 2015? Certainly, Labour constituencies see fairly high levels of UKIP support (notably at the recent Heywood & Middleton by-election), suggesting there is credence to the argument that Labour is losing its disaffected traditional…
Is Nigel Farage the Heineken Politician? (Is UKIP Reaching the Parts of...
It is sometimes claimed about Nigel Farage – and by Nigel Farage – that UKIP is particularly successful in winning votes from people who have become disengaged from participating in British elections. The implication is that UKIP is reaching the parts of the electorate that…
British Election Study on the Westminster Hour
Listen to Professor Jane Green and Dr Steve Fisher being interviewed for the Westminster Hour, BBC Radio Four, on 7 December, ahead of our British Election study event in Westminster on 9 December. Both will be presenting their research findings using BES data, along with…
What the BES suggests about constituency variation in party performance, by Stephen...
Where parties win votes at the next general election will matter as well as how many they win. Recent opinion polls suggest that since 2010 the Conservatives have suffered a small set back and Labour have made a correspondingly modest recovery. Much more dramatic has…
Watch the trailer for our new film
Watch the trailer for our new film ‘The British Election Study: Understanding British Democracy’, now available on YouTube ahead of its launch on December 9. Funded by the School of Social Sciences at The University of Manchester, some of Britain’s top academics and journalists in…