Transcript Irish Social Science Data Archive

Quantitative data and the
Irish Social Science Data Archive
http://www.ucd.ie/issda
James McBride
Director, Irish Social Science Data Archive
issda

Founded in 2000 as a joint initiative of UCD and
the ESRI, with the support of the CSO

Makes quantitative data available to academic and
non-profit research sectors

Aim:

issda
To facilitate secondary analysis by ensuring wider
access to large scale quantitative datasets
Funding for issda

Funding for the data archive is provided by a
grant from Cycle 4 of the Programme for
Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI)

This comes from Ireland’s EU Structural Funds
Programmes 2007-2013, co-funded by the Irish
Government and the European Union
issda
Qualitative research

A “methodology for the
study of non-naturalistic or
artefactual data” (Heaton,
p. 6)

Interviews

Focus Groups

issda
Life stories

Official documents

Film / audio /
photographs

Newspaper back issues
Fieldnotes




Open-ended questions
in surveys
Irish Qualitative Data
Archive, NUI Maynooth

http://www.iqda.ie
Diaries

National Library
Quantitative research

Empirical, evidence-based research

Statistical analysis of survey and microdata
Opinion polls
 Election studies
 Cross-national surveys (eg. Eurobarometer)
 Census of Population
 Household Budget Survey
 Quarterly National Household Survey

issda
Secondary analysis

Use of existing data to test new ideas

Verification of existing research
issda
Example

Attitudes to migration

Run your own detailed survey (primary research)
European Social Survey
 c. 1,200 respondents
 c. €300,000


Use pre-existing survey (secondary analysis)

issda
ESS Round 1 (http://ess.nsd.uib.no/)
 Data (in SPSS, SAS, Stata, ASCII formats)
 Bibliography of research using the data
Advantages

Efficient use of resources

Ready availability of high-quality data, adhering
to professional standards

Data collected for one purpose can be reanalysed
across a range of other subject areas

Existing data can be combined with other data to
more thoroughly investigate a topic

Ability to study trends over time
issda
Limitations

Data not always available

Danger of mismatch between primary and
secondary uses of data

Availability of documentation

Danger of errors slipping in unnoticed during data
collection and processing
issda
Availability of secondary data

Data archives
ISSDA: http://www.ucd.ie/issda
 ICPSR: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/
 CESSDA: http://www.cessda.org


Data producers
CSO (2006 Census): http://www.cso.ie
 WHO: http://www.who.int/en/


Data project websites
ESS: http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org
 SHARE: http://geary.ucd.ie/share/

issda
How it works
DATA SUPPLIERS (CSO, ESRI, etc)
issda
DATA USERS (Students, Researchers, Policymakers … )
issda
Target audience
Initial target:

Academic researchers and third level
students in social sciences in Ireland
Actually:


Researchers working on academic,
non-profit, and consultancy projects
Students:



Some secondary school requests
At all undergraduate and
postgraduate levels
Government departments/agencies
Across a wide range of subject
disciplines

Social sciences, business/commerce,
psychology, public health,
engineering, agriculture, etc.
International demand for Irish data –
UK, USA, other EU countries
issda
Datasets

Official statistics data:





Census
Quarterly National Household
Survey/Labour Force Survey
EU-SILC
Household Budget Survey
Data from major government
funded research projects:





Irish social science and public health
research projects:




Growing Up in Ireland (GUI)
Survey on Lifestyle And
Nutrition
Living In Ireland
The Irish Longitudinal Study on
Aging (2012)
Facilitate access to cross-national
data:







issda
Irish National Election Study
Irish Social and Political Attitudes
Survey
Irish Survey of Contraception and
Crisis Pregnancy
Eurobarometer
ISSP
European Values Survey
European Social Survey
CESSDA member catalogues
ICPSR
Commission for Energy regulation
Smart Metering Project data
ICPSR – http://www.icpsr.umich.edu
issda
ICPSR
issda
Selection of MA projects (i)

Charitable giving/ volunteering in Ireland

Child poverty in Ireland

Social structures vs. individual attitudes and how
they affect labour market outcomes of Irish
women

Analysis of the status and situation of the Irish
Language

Dietary Habits, Physical Activity Participation
levels and body mass index measurements
among leaving cert students.
issda
Selection of MA projects (ii)

Carbon tax policies as a method of reducing
energy usage for Transport

Analysing differentials of immigrants in Ireland
and across other EU countries

Effects of declining enrolment on secondary
schools

Ethnicity and early school leaving
issda
Accessing datasets

CSO datasets shipped on CD-ROM

Internet:


Documentation available in Acrobat format via the web
http://nesstar.ucd.ie/webview

ICPSR: go to
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ticketlogin from a
campus PC to set up an account and download
data

http://www.ucd.ie/issda
issda
Contact details
issda

http://www.ucd.ie/issda

[email protected]

01 716 4612

Twitter: issda
issda