An ICPSR Workshop

1. An ICPSR Workshop A Hands-on Guide to Using ICPSR Resources

2. Getting to Know ICPSR • What is ICPSR? From where do the data come? • Why do individuals use ICPSR? • Supporting Social Sciences Research • Enhancing undergraduate and graduate education • How do I get started using ICPSR? • Finding data • Creating a MyData account • Downloading data • How do I use ICPSR in the classroom?

3. What is ICPSR?

4. One of the world’s oldest and largest social science data archives • Established in 1962 (as ICPR) so that social scientists could share data • Data distributed on punch cards, then magnetic reel-to-reel tape, and now: • Data available instantaneously • Over 7,600 studies with over 62,500 data sets • Membership organization that started as a partnership among 21 universities, now: • Currently over 690 members world-wide • Federal funding allows parts of the collection to be available to all

5. What We Do – It’s About Data! • Seek out researchers, PIs, research agencies and collect data files and pertinent documents related to the original research • Process the data and documents • Output data into multiple formats (ASCII, SAS, SPSS, Stata, SDA) • Preserve it for the future • Disseminate data directly to the desktops of students and researchers for secondary analysis • Provide education, training, & instructional resources • Summer Program in Quantitative Methods • Undergraduate and graduate student & teaching resources to support quantitative literacy

6. About the Data • ICPSR archives both U.S. and international data • Data Sources: • Government (census, government organizations) • Large data collection efforts (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Panel Study of Income Dynamics) • Polls (ABC and CBS news polls, voter polls) • Principle Investigators (Chitwan Valley Family Study, Marital Instability Over the Life Course) • Data repurposed (Integrated Fertility Survey Series, Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys) • Other organizations (NCAA)

7. Anthropology Criminal Justice Demography Economics Education Foreign Policy Gerontology Health & Medical Policy History Law/Legal Services Political Sciences Psychology Public Policy Sociology Supporting a growing number of disciplines. . .

8. Most Popular Downloads, Spring 2009 • General Social Surveys • 1972-2004 (Cumulative) • 1972-2006 (Cumulative) • American National Election Study: • Pre- and Post-Election Survey (2004, 2000) • American National Election Studies, 1948-2004 (Cumulative) • Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys • Cumulative file, 2001-2003 • National Survey of American Life, 2001-2003 • National Latino and Asian American Study, 2002-2003 • National Survey on Drug Use and Health, (2006, 2005, 2003) • European and World Values Surveys Integrated Data File, 1999-2002 • Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, 2001 • National Comorbidity Survey: Replication, 2001-2003 • Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, 1992-1994

9. Supporting Social Research

10. Exploring the ICPSR Web site http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/

11. Finding & Downloading Data • Many search tools found under the Find & Analyze Data link • MyData account – operates as authentication and like a shoping cart! • Data available in a variety of formats: • ASCII data with set-up files • SPSS • SAS • Stata • Includes documentation • Codebook – original and reformulated • Processing notes • User support available

12. Searching for Data - Tips • When you know what you want • An acronym • A survey name • A series name • An investigator or agency name • You sort of know what you want • Keywords or themes • Populations, time frame, geography • Type of data • You (or the student) has no idea what you want! • Start with the Bibliography of Data-Related Literature 12

13. Specialty Archives/Thematic Collections • Data grouped by substantive topic • Many archives (thematic collections), including: • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA)* • National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)* • National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA)* • Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR)* • Resource Center for Minority Data (RCMD) • International Data Resource Center (IDRC) • General Archive *These archives are federally funded

14. Data Exploration Exercise • Find the “Search” box on the front page • Enter a search term of your choice • Identify a study of interest • Read the description • Who were the survey participants? • Where & when was it collected? • What were the main subjects covered? • Find an article based on these data • Would you like to download? • Does this study have online analysis capability?

15. The Study Home Page

16. Supporting Data Use

17. Supporting the Data • Data and Documentation for students & researchers • Allows for replication, further understanding of published findings, new research • Used in papers, theses/dissertations, and reports • Free user support • Bibliography of Data-Related Literature • Over 48,500 citations • Full-text available

18. ICPSR’s Bibliography of Data-Related Literature • Publications based on data held at ICPSR • Growing the Data Bibliography • ICPSR staff continuously searching for data citations • Encouraging the use of data citations (included in all downloads & on the documentation page!) • Ability to see the article citation and click through for full-text (link resolver) • Many use the Data Bibliography as a search tool! 18

19. Online Analysis Software • Survey Documentation & Analysis (SDA) developed at UC Berkeley • Web-based, requires no additional software or licensing • Over 500 datasets available for use with SDA • Just interested in online datasets? • Easy for students but sophisticated analyses available for researchers • Good for preliminary analyses to determine whether data will work for a particular research question (e.g., RCMD subsetting tools)

20. Specialized Tools – The RCMD 20 • Focused on comparative analysis of issues affecting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States • Tools to verify sample is sufficient for analysis • http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/MDRC/

21. Additional ICPSR Resources • Summer Program in Quantitative Methods • Subscribed Email Lists • ICPSR Help • FAQs (searchable) • Data User Help Center (w/ audio/video tutorials) • Local Support • ICPSR Social Networks

22. Supporting Quantitative Literacy

23. Engaging Students Through Data • Supporting Quantitative Literacy • Roughly 30% of 2-year college students and 20% of 4-year college students show below basic or basic quantitative literacy skills: These students could not, for example, estimate if their cars had enough gas to get to a gas station. (The Literacy of America’s College Students, American Institutes for Research, January 2006) • Engages students with disciplines more fully • Better picture of how social scientists work • Prevents some of the feelings of “disconnect” between substantive and technical courses • Piques student interest • Opens the door to the world of data

24. Bringing Data Into the Classroom In partnership with teaching faculty, ICPSR has developed: • Online tutorials • Online teaching modules • Online Learning Center (Introductory/Substantive Courses) • Student research opportunities

25. Online Modules: • SETUPS • Uses the 2008 National Election Study to understand voting behavior (2004 also available) • Provides substantive background, terms and descriptions, and embedded exercises to allow users to get through simple exploratory analyses of political behavior. Builds crosstabular exercises based on various questions about the 2008 Presidential elections. • www.icpsr.umich.edu/SETUPS2008

26. Investigating Community and Social Capital • Uses 3 data sets including the General Social Survey, DDB Needham Life Style Surveys, and State-level data to reproduce findings from Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone • Teaches how to browse codebooks, devise and execute crosstabulations, and use summary statistics • Helps teach replication of scientific evidence • http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICSC/index.html

27. Exploring Data Through Research Literature • Designed to teach quantitative research methods to undergraduates in a different way. • Integrates ICPSR bibliography of data related literatureinto teaching students how make their way from ideas to empirical work to literature and back. • Suitable for both research methods and other substantive courses requiring empirical research • www.icpsr.umich.edu/EDRL/index.htm

28. Tool to help develop classroom lectures and exercises that integrate data early into the learning process. • Intended for use in introductory-level substantive classes. • OLC addresses key concerns raised by teaching faculty in focus groups and in-depth interviews. • Requires no additional software. • www.icpsr.umich.edu/OLC • Webinar on using the OLC in class on ICPSR website

29. Using the OLC: How to Find It • Directly: www.icpsr.umich.edu/OLC • Through ICPSR homepage (www.icpsr.umich.edu): • Under Teaching & Learning • Coming soon: Data-driven learning guides linked from datasets under “Teach” section on study home page

31. How to Use the OLC • Choosing a DDLG – several search tools within the OLC • Faculty use of charts in class to introduce topic • Sending students to the Website to work through a DDLG in class or as homework • Using DDLG as part of larger project

32. Coming Soon! (Fall 2009)

33. Research Opportunities for Students • Research paper competitions -- a research journal experience & cash prizes! • Paid student internships focusing on investigating social sciences research

34. For More Info: • Explore the website - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/ • Sign up for our email announcements - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/org/lists/index.jsp • Attend or view ICPSR webinars (open to the public!) - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/help/datausers/index.jsp • Contact use – netmail@icpsr.umich.edu