An Introduction to ICPSR: Resources for Psychology

Lynette Hoelter, Ph.D. Director, Instructional Resources &

Development

California Lutheran UniversityOctober 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

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What is ICPSR?

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• 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 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

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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

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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)

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Popular Downloads:• American National Election Study: Pre- and Post-Election Survey (2004)

• American Time Use Survey

• Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys Cumulative file, 2001-2003: National Comorbidity Survey Replication, National Survey of

American Life, National Latino and Asian American Study

• 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 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

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Supporting Social Science Research

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/themes/index.jsp

Using Data in Class:

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• Modules based on Research Methods• Online Learning Center• TeachingWithData.org• Data-Related Bibliography• Online Analysis

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/

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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/

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• 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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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!

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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

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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! – netmail@icpsr.umich.edu (User Support)

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Remaining Questions?...

Lynette Hoelter

lhoelter@umich.edu