Why social work needs to embrace data linkage research

Purpose Linked data can provide unique insights into both the need for social care services and the outcomes of intervention. Crucially, these insights will be based on much more representative coverage of the population of people receiving social care than is achieved by surveys and they are not subject to the reporting bias that can arise in relation to stigmatised services. Design/methodology/approach The opportunities are expanding for linking together routine administrative data from different public services, e.g. health care, social care, education and criminal justice. These linked data can be used for research in trusted research environments which are very secure and where no researcher can identify individuals. Work is rapidly developing using children’s social care data. Findings Much of the data linkage research using children’s social care data is being conducted by data scientists and medical researchers without knowledge of the sector, and very few social care or social work specialists who have that knowledge are involved in these studies. Originality/value This viewpoint piece argues the need for social care and social work research to embrace data linkage. What is needed is an integration of methods expertise in linked data and substantive knowledge of children’s social care work. The arguments are illustrated with reference to some recent research in Wales.