An Introduction to ICPSR Data Services

Spring 2013

Introduction• ICPSR’s Elevator Story

– What is an “ICPSR”– Why do people use ICPSR

• ICPSR Website– The Study Home Page– Data Tools

• ICPSR in Education• Other Data Services

• One of the world’s oldest and largest social science data archives, est. 1962

• Data distributed on punch cards, then reel-to-reel tape, now: – Data available on demand– Over 8,200 studies with over 68,700 data sets

• Membership organization among 21 universities, now:– Currently about 735 members world-wide– Federal funding of public collections

What is ICPSR? - Then and Now -

What We Do – It’s About Data!• Seek research data and

pertinent documents from researchers (PIs, research agencies, government)

• Process and preserve the data and documents

• Disseminate data• Provide education, training,

& instructional resources

Why People Use ICPSR• Write articles, papers, or theses using real

research data• Conduct secondary research to support findings

of current research or to generate new findings• Use as intro material in grant proposals• Preserve/disseminate primary research data

– Fulfill data management plan (grant) requirements

• Study or teach quantitative methods

Supporting a growing number of disciplines

• Health & Medical Policy• History• International Relations• Law/Legal Services• Political Sciences• Psychology• Public Policy• Sociology

• Anthropology• Business/Economics• Communications• Criminal Justice• Demography• Education• Foreign Policy• Gerontology

We are Not Alone!Another Acronym: CESSDA

Council of European Social Science Data Archives

Niche Archives• ARDA – Association of Religion Data Archives:

http://www.thearda.com/ • The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research:

http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/

Back to ICPSR - Most Popular Downloads this Past Year:• National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health• General Social Surveys (1972-2010 Cumulative)• National Survey on Drug Use and Health• World Handbook of Political & Social Indicators III• National Survey of Midlife Development in the US • Chinese Household Income Project• American National Election Study: 2008 Pre- and Post-Election

Survey • Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study• Globalization Comparative Panel Dataset• India Human Development Survey

Volumes of Activity• 8,200 studies: 68,700 datasets: 585,000 files

available for download– 1,078 restricted studies (5,655 datasets)

• FY 2012– 1,172,304 datasets downloaded– 35,345 active MyData accounts– 416,550 unique website visits– 1,027 Summer Program attendees

What’s in a “Download?”• Documentation files - pdfs

– Questionnaire– Codebook– Description & Citation

• Data in many forms!– SPSS, SAS, Stata– ASCII

“Shopping” for Data: The MyData Account• MyData account – operates as authentication and like a

shopping cart!• Authenticate once every six months on campus and you can

carry it with you

Supporting the Data• Free user support• The HELP Page offers:

– User support (at ICPSR) email and phone contact information

– Data User Help Center: Short Tutorials & Webinars available 24/7

– Local Support: Who to contact at your local institution– Glossary of Terms– Social Networks: Where you can find us on YouTube,

Facebook, Twitter, Slideshare, and more

The “Front Office”

Our Front Office: ICPSR Web site

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/

The Challenge – Hoards of Data & MetadataHow does one make sense of:

• 8,200 studies• 68,700 datasets• 585,000 files• Millions of variables• 62,500 bibliographic citations

Data Tools to Find & Analyze Data

The Study Home Page

It’s really a searchable database . . . containing over 62,500 citations of known published

and unpublished works resulting from analyses of data archived at ICPSR

. . .that can generate study bibliographies associating each study with the literature about it. . . Included in the integrated search

on the ICPSR Web site

The Bibliography of Data-related Literature

Demonstrating the Impact of Research

The Social Science Variables Database at ICPSREnables ICPSR users to:• Search & Compare Variables across

datasets• Assists in:

– Data discovery – Comparison/harmonization projects – Data harvesting & data analysis– Question mining for designing new research– Research methods & substantive courses

instruction

Analyze & Compare Variables

Interested in Online Datasets?“View SDA Studies”

SDA Output

ICPSR in Education

ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods

• Instruction on the tools and practices needed to analyze data• For those with math phobia and those with advanced analysis

skills• 3-5 day workshops and 4-8 week courses• Primarily held in Ann Arbor, MI, on the campus of The University of Michigan, but some courses on other campuses also• http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/sumprog/

Bringing Data Into the Classroom• Easy to use features of ICPSR’s Website in classes

– Social Science Variables Database– Bibliography of Data-Related Literature– SDA

• Additionally, in partnership with teaching faculty, ICPSR has developed:– Short Exercises – the DDLGs– Online teaching modules– Online tutorials– Student research opportunities

Bringing Data Into the Classroom

Online Modules

Research Opportunities for Students– Research paper competi

tions -- a research journal experience & cash prizes!

– Paid student internships focusing on investigating social sciences research

Data Services

ICPSR Data Hosting ServicesFrom Full-Service Archives To Al a Carte Data

Management

• Data (website) hosting• Preservation• Data Sharing & Impact• Data Outreach &

Engagement• Data security & tracking

The Statement Heard Round the Research World:

• The National Science Foundation has released a new requirement for proposal submissions regarding the management of data generated using NSF support. Starting in January, 2011, all proposals must include a data management plan (DMP).

• The plan should be short, no more than two pages, and will be submitted as a supplementary document. The plan will need to address two main topics: – What data are generated by your research? – What is your plan for managing the data?

ICPSR’s DMP Web Site

Guidelines for Download

Data Services in Development

Secure Data Services - Restricted-use Data• Potential increase in demand for data

management services as a result of grant/contract requirements

• Increase in demand for processing, analysis, and distribution of sensitive data

• Resulted in improvements focused on secure computing and data sharing environments at ICPSR

Three Avenues of Security• Public-Use (on demand) and Restricted-Use (data

use agreement)• Secure Computing in the Cloud• Onsite ‘physical’ data enclave

The Visual

For More Info:• Explore the website - www.icpsr.umich.edu

• Sign up for our email announcements - www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/membership/lists/index.jsp

• “Like” ICPSR on Facebook/follow ICPSR on Twitter• Attend or view our webinars (open to the public!)• Find our presentations on www.slideshare.net –

user: icpsr

• Contact user support – netmail@icpsr.umich.edu