Transcript Finding and using data

Module 4
Finding and Using Canadian Data
Faculty of Social Sciences Library
Susan Mowers
Fall 2013
Outline
 Data Services for graduate students
 Before you choose your data
 Finding and evaluating your data (by examples)
Learning outcomes
 Identify the role of data in the research process
 Use data sources and tools for the Social Sciences
in order to be able to find and evaluate data
 Identify some data formats
Data Services for Graduate
Students
Library Data Services
• Collects and publishes data;
• Has agreements with data providers, e.g., Statistics Canada,
ICPSR (next slides), IMF and Eurostat;
• In addition to collecting data, the Library provides expertise
and computers for students and researchers using data:
• supporting all levels of data users,
• geared to the unique research questions of every data user.
uOttawa Library
obtains data as a member of …
• the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI)
• Partnership between Canadian universities and colleges with Statistics
Canada,
– for students, researchers and university staff.
– Provides public-use microdata files (Statistics Canada: STC) means nonconfidential
– “public” means anonymized so you can’t identify individual survey
respondents
• Browse A-Z list of DLI surveys : link
• Browse and download DLI data via Odesi: link
How-to Odesi tutorials: link
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Beyond DLI:
Statistics Canada Open License …

Public data (PUMFs) from Statistics Canada are not just for
researchers in universities any more …

Any researcher or member of the public, can use public data for
any use and without cost via :
• Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement
• Order process via the Web (license, then data)
• Find PUMF file pages, e.g., CCHS 2008-09
• Statistics Canada surveys A-Z: link
•  Publications (see to left)
•  Free  Order
Note also: Confidential Statistics Canada data: via Research Data
Centre
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uOttawa Library also
obtains data as a member of …
• ICPSR
• … the Inter-university Consortium of Political and Social
Research
• located at the University of Michigan, icpsr.umich.edu
• international holdings, U.S. strength
•
•
•
Discover ICPSR data holding at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/index.jsp
ICPSR also indexes journal articles with analysis results from ICPSR studies via
• http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/citations/index.jsp or
• Related Studies link on an ICPSR study page
Browse their YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ICPSRWeb
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ICPSR 2014 Research Paper
Competition
 Four research paper competition categories
• Eligibility
students (U.S. and non U.S.) currently pursuing OR who recently received
(after April 1, 2013) undergraduate or master’s degrees.
• Awards
$1,000 for first place and $750 for second place in each category.
• Deadline
All papers and corresponding entry forms must be submitted by January 31,
2014.
For more information, please see:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/ICPSR/prize/index.html
ICPSR 2014 Research Paper
Competition
 Four research paper competition categories
• Eligibility
Students (U.S. and non U.S.) currently pursuing OR who recently received
(after April 1, 2013) undergraduate or master’s degrees.
• Awards
$1,000 for first place and $750 for second place in each category.
• Deadline
All papers and corresponding entry forms must be submitted by January 31,
2014.
For more information, please see:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/ICPSR/prize/index.html
Our main data portal:
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Database of Data
 Odesi.ca
Excellent data searching functions
Bilingual
Content - broad
Access – anyone can search, uO community can
download
• Scholars Portal (Ontario) + university libraries
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For Data help,
the GSG Centre is located on the
3rd floor of Morisset,
for a Data appointment, E-mail [email protected]
for a Government Information appointment, E-mail : [email protected]
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Computer labs with specialised
software
• Morisset
– 65 University, room 308 (for MRT opening hours, click here)
• Faculty of Social Sciences
– FSS Library – room 2010, (4 computers 7:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. / Mon.-Fri.)
• Montpetit
– 125 University, room 140 (24/7)
Social Sciences only…
• Vanier
– 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, rooms 2008, 2015, 2025 (7:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. / 7)
Before you choose your data …
Before searching/choosing your
data …
 Why data?
 Data in the research process and in the Social
Sciences
 Where from?
• Basic classifications
• Evaluating data
 Data definitions (including variables and
measures)
Why data?
 Big data and Statistics today!
 What can data bring to your research?
Data and Statistics today
http://www.statistics2013.org/
“ Statistics is the science of learning from data, and of
measuring, controlling, and communicating uncertainty;
and it thereby provides the navigation essential for
controlling the course of scientific and societal advances
…”
Data and Statistics Today …

Éditorial, « Why Statistics? », (2012), Science, Vol. 336 no.
6077, April 6th, p. 12. DOI: 10.1126/science.1218685
… This field will become ever more critical as
academia, businesses, and governments rely
increasingly on data-driven decisions, expanding the
demand for statistics expertise.”
What can data bring to your
research?
 Data can provide :
• Factual evidence to add weight to your argument
• A great tool for description : add meaning and context
(use data to paint a picture of your subject)
• The ability to refute or support your hypothesis through
statistical analysis
Data in the Research Process
http://prezi.com/bfm1q_mrz8wz/copy-of-board2/
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/steps-of-the-researchprocess
Steps as per MIT in detail
Data research in the Social
Sciences
 Understanding role of secondary data …
Use primary or secondary
data?
Are secondary data …
(a) Data collected by someone else ?
(b) Not as good as primary data for publishing your research
?
(c) May be a research choice for graduate research, e.g., will I
use primary data OR secondary data ?
(d) Generally easier and faster to obtain than primary data ?
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Secondary data are …
 Data that are collected by someone else
 As good as primary data for publishing your
research
 May be a research choice for graduate
research, e.g., will I use primary data OR
secondary data?
 Generally easier and faster to obtain than
primary data
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But beware …
 Evaluate your secondary data …
 Where do the data come from?
• Who collected the data?
• Their reputation for precision and accuracy
• Who paid for the data?
• The mandate of the sponsor, what was their goal for the
research?
Considerations before choosing
your source of secondary data
Thoroughly research the concepts being measured (population,
your key variables)
Ensure you know how the concepts are being measured and
defined, is it appropriate and meaningful?
Research possible source biases (from the data collector or
sponsor) or reliability issues
Check the time scale, e.g., is the data current enough ?
…. so you will need documentation in addition to the SPSS file!
Source, The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation,
http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3241e/w3241e03.htm
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First, data …
 What do we mean by “data”?
• What are data and what are statistics …
• What are the differences?
Data and Statistics Compared
Data:
Statistics
 Electronic
 May be electronic
 Raw material
 Data “summaries”
 Not analysed or processed
 Presentation ready and
often ready to use
 Not report ready:
processing required
Look at census
 May not be in numeric
form, statistics often
visually communicated:
graphs, maps …
Finding and evaluating Data
 Which level do you need, data or statistics?
 Let’s look at actual examples, first at statistical tables
and then at creating statistics from data!
Research Guide for Data
and Statistics
Link: http://uottawa.ca.libguides.com/Data
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MYUORESEARCH
Module 5 – Getting Your Research Out …
http://bit.ly/myuoresearch
bit.ly/eval-eng
Q1 – Social Sciences
Q2 – Module 4
Q3 – 24 October/10 2013