Preparing to use the Countries and Citizens materials

Each of the units in the Countries and Citizens: Linking International Macro and Micro Data (LIMMD) course has been written by a subject specialist to help guide you through different aspects of working with international data sources.

Much of the course centres around data available through the ESRC UK Data Service. The Service has negotiated access to data from many of the world's leading aggregate and survey data suppliers and several of the activities in the Countries and Citizens course require you to access these databases though the UK Data service. These data are made freely available to the UK academic community, however before you start working through the Countries and Citizens: course you should make sure that you have a current UK HE/FE Institutional username and password (speak to your university librarian if you are unsure about this). You will also need to register with the UK Data Service and some of the data suppliers also require that you individually register with them and agree to their specific terms and conditions of use.

Some of the activities available in the material require you to have specific software installed on your computer (e.g. Excel, Stata, SPSS, MLwiN or equivalent). Detailed guidance on how to operate these applications is not routinely given as part of the course. The 'Before you start' section of each unit describes in detail what software you will need to complete the activities in that unit.

Navigating the Countries and Citizens materials

• Breadcrumb trail - At the top of each page there is a series of links, known as a breadcrumb trail. It allows you to backtrack your progress through the unit by section. The last part of the trail is the page that you are currently on.
• Table of contents - At the left-hand side of each page a list of links is presented, which provide an expandable table of contents to the unit and allow you to navigate to any section.
• Activity and example views - Clicking on the 'Activity' or 'Example' icons at the top of each page allows you to see, at a glance, all of the activities or examples contained within a unit, and links to those pages. You may want to 'cherry-pick' your way through the material, concentrating on these exercises and illustrations.

Working with the Countries and Citizens materials

The activities contained in the Countries and Citizens materials require that you are able to use your computer to multitask, i.e. have several software applications and web pages open at a time and work between them. Some of our workshop participants found it easier to work from the printed study guide; these guides can be downloaded from the Countries and Citizens home page.

Work through the material in a way that suits your own learning needs - there is no right or wrong way to use the Countries and Citizens: LIMMD resources.