The University of Southampton is one of the UK’s top research universities, ranked 16th for the volume of its high quality research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. The REF rated 84 per cent of Southampton’s overall research activity as world-leading and internationally excellent.
S3RI performed well in its specific Unit of Assessment in the REF 2021 with 99% of our activity rated as internationally excellent or of world-leading quality for both the impact of our research and the research environment that we offer. S3RI is also a key part of Statistics and Operational Research at Southampton, which is ranked 33rd in the QS World Rankings by Subject for 2021.
Government agencies from around the world, public and private sector and non-governmental organisations, charities and academics, all turn to S3RI when they need cutting-edge expertise in statistics, demography and social surveys, especially in the development of methodologies. We can call on world-leading academics from across the University of Southampton including social, health and physical scientists, engineers and mathematicians to work with us on projects.
Changes in survey design or procedure, such as improvements in methodology or technology, can systematically affect the outcome of a survey. We have developed techniques to improve the availability and accuracy of the information we can gather about such effects, and have applied these to major national surveys.
Our statistical techniques have informed the design of recent population censuses in the UK, Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand, resulting in significant cost savings and political impact.
We have developed new methods to improve the accuracy of national and international estimates of the extent of human trafficking, with substantial implications for the policies of the United Nations and national governments.
Our research has refined a diagnostic biomarker test to detect growth hormone misuse in sport, increasing confidence in accurate detection of doping by athletes.