During a webinar held on 26 October 2020, speakers Laura Morales and Ami Saji (Sciences Po) introduced participants to the recently launched EMM Survey Registry, a free, FAIR-aligned tool displaying data from more than 800 quantitative surveys undertaken with EMM populations in Europe and neighboring countries. The live beta version offers metadata for some 480 surveys across 14 different countries.
While quantitative surveys of EMM (ethnic and migrant minority) populations can provide valuable insights into the migrant integration experience, the survey data is often underutilised by researchers and policymakers because it is difficult to find, access, and reuse. The registry was developed by the ethnic and migration studies data community, organised around COST Action Ethmigsurveydata, in collaboration with SSHOC (Task 9.2) expressly to tap this unmet potential.
Image source: EMM Survey Registry landing page
At its core, the EMM Survey Registry is intended to be a user-friendly and user-centric tool. It is also envisioned to be a single access point to metadata about quantitative surveys undertaken (primarily) in Europe since January 2000 with EMM respondents. Given these objectives, the FAIR principles naturally became the framework for the EMM Survey Registry design. The EMM Survey Registry promotes the FAIR principles in the following ways:
Findable
Accessible
Interoperable
Reusable
The beta version of the EMM Survey Registry, which was officially launched in spring 2020, has a fully functional front-end and currently displays metadata for almost 480 surveys from 14 different countries. Users can freely explore the front-end of the EMM Survey Registry and learn about the already included surveys through the various front-end functionalities:
The back-end of the EMM Survey Registry, which is where all the metadata is managed, is also fully functional. Currently, its access is limited to the administrators of the EMM Survey Registry, because the protocol of granting access has not been yet established; nonetheless, its functionalities were showcased in the webinar. In the coming months, the back-end will be opened up to external users, so that they can contribute their own metadata to the EMM Survey Registry.
To ensure that the EMM Survey Registry can serve as a ‘one stop shop’ to learn about EMM surveys in the long-run, it needs the support of data producers and data users:
Data producers: Once the back-end is opened up to external users, you will be able to request an account. Using your issued account, you will then be able to contribute metadata about your own survey(s), with support/oversight from the administrators of the EMM Survey Registry.
Data users: As the EMM Survey Registry expands its collection of metadata, you are highly encouraged to use the tool and its metadata to test whether it can be adeptly leveraged for your respective research or policy-based needs. All feedback is welcomed and can be directed to: sshoc.project@sciencespo.fr
For more information about the ethnic and migration studies data community and the EMM Survey Registry:
Article written by Ami Saji
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash