Transcript Slide 1

An Introduction to ICPSR:
Resources for Psychology
Lynette Hoelter, Ph.D.
Director, Instructional Resources &
Development
California Lutheran University
October 21, 2009
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
• Training and tools available
• How do I get started using ICPSR?
 Finding data
 Creating a MyData account
 Downloading data
2
What is ICPSR?
3
• 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-toreel tape, and now
 Data available instantaneously
 Just under 7,600 studies with over 62,500 data sets
• Membership organization that started as a partnership
among 21 universities, now:
 Currently over 680 members world-wide
 Federal funding allows parts of the collection to be available to all
4
What we do:
• 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
[PASW], 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 teaching resources to support
quantitative literacy
5
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)
 New combinations (Integrated Fertility Survey Series, Collaborative
Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys)
 Other organizations (NCAA)
6
Popular Downloads:
•
•
•
American National Election Study: Pre- and Post-Election Survey (2004)
American Time Use Survey
Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys

•
•
•
•
•
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999
General Social Survey (Cumulative1972-2006)
Global Terrorism Database II
Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

•
•
Cumulative file, 2001-2003: National Comorbidity Survey Replication, National Survey of
American Life, National Latino and Asian American Study
Waves1-3 : In-home questionnaire sections, network variables, education data,
contextual data, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Score data
National Survey of America’s Families
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
7
Supporting Social Science Research
8
Supporting Research:
• Data and Documentation for students & researchers
 Allows for replication, further understanding of published
•
•
•
•
findings, new research
Used in papers, theses/dissertations, and reports

Bibliography of Related Literature
 Over 48,000 citations
 Full-text available
Free user support
Education and training
 Summer Program courses held at UM and other campuses
Undergraduate student paper competitions and
summer internship opportunities
9
Enhancing Education:
• Supporting Quantitative Literacy
• 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
10
Specialty Archives/Thematic Collections
• Data grouped by substantive topic
• Many archives, including:








Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR)*
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)*
National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA)*
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA)*
Resource Center for Minority Data(MDRC)
Child Care and Early Education Center (Research Connections)
International Data Resource Center (IDRC)
General Archive
*Data in these archives are available to non-members
11
Archives of Interest for Psychology
• Child Care and Early Education Research
Connections (CEERC)
• Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys
(CPES)
• National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging
(NACDA)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive
(SAMHDA)
12
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/themes/index.jsp
13
Using Data in Class:
•
•
•
•
•
Modules based on Research Methods
Online Learning Center
TeachingWithData.org
Data-Related Bibliography
Online Analysis
14
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 students how to browse codebooks, devise
and execute cross tabulations and summary statistics
 Helps teach replication of scientific evidence
 http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICSC/
15
Exploring Data Through Research Literature
 Designed to teach quantitative
research methods to
undergraduates in a different way.
 Integrates ICPSR bibliography of
data related literature into
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
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/EDRL/
16
• 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.
• Data-driven Learning Guides on a variety of topics
• Requires no additional software.
• Webinar on using the OLC in class on ICPSR website
17
Using the OLC: How to Find It
• Directly: www.icpsr.umich.edu/OLC
• Through ICPSR homepage
(www.icpsr.umich.edu):
 Under Teaching & Learning
 In list of Thematic Collections
• Coming soon: Data-driven learning guides
linked from datasets under “Teach” section on
study home page
18
How to Use the OLC
• Choosing a DDLG – several search tools
within the OLC
• Faculty use of charts in class to introduce
topic
• Registering students through MyClass
• Sending students to the Website to work
through a DDLG in class or as homework
• Using DDLG as part of larger project
19
How to Use the OLC
• Choosing a DDLG – several search tools
within the OLC
• Faculty use of charts in class to introduce
topic
• Registering students through MyClass
• Sending students to the Website to work
through a DDLG in class or as homework
• Using DDLG as part of larger project
20
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
• 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)
21
ICPSR’s Data-Related Bibliography
• 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)
• More searchers start on the bibliography search than
on the data search!
22
Research Opportunities for Students
 Research paper
competitions - a research
journal experience & cash
prizes!
 Paid student internships
focusing on social
sciences research.
• Experience in both
data management and
conducting a research
project.
• NSF-REU submitted to
fund the program
23
For More Info:
• Explore the website - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/
• Sign up for our email announcements http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/org/lists/index.html
• Attend or view our webinars (open to the public!) http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/training/webinar.html
• View sessions from our virtual OR meeting (Oct. 2009) http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/or/ormeet/index.html
• Get help! – [email protected] (User Support)
24
Remaining Questions?...
Lynette Hoelter
[email protected]
25