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4. When was the research carried out?
It's impossible to give any hard and fast rule in terms of when research might be considered to be past its use-by date.
It is important to acknowledge that different data sources are collected and updated at different times and so it is unwise to apply any universal rule or recommendation about whether information of a certain vintage is reliable or useful because of variations by source and topic.
For example, census information is collected only every 10 years, and then there is likely to be a considerable time lag in the analysis of that information, so between censuses data might look quite 'old' but still be the most recent available information source.
Labour Market Information is also quite complex to collect and scrutinise; reports that rely on data a few years old might actually be as up to date as possible. Equally, the labour market changes rapidly so contradictory information is out there. It wasn't so very long ago that a shortage of plumbers was predicted, now some say there is a glut. Still, date of collection is still worth scrutiny:
As a minimum think about:
- What date was the research carried out?
- What date was the report/ research published? (this may be a more accurate indication of currency)
- Have there been any pivotal factors between the date of the research and date of publication that might call into question the topicality of research findings? (e.g. new countries entering the European union may shift the available labour supply)
- Is there any more recent research in the public domain that either supports or contradicts the findings of this particular report?
Last cached: 2008-09-02 01:08 PM