Cindy Severt Senior Special Librarian February 12,

DISC: Where & When? Data & Information Services Center 3308 Sewell Social Science Building Hours: 8:30am – 4:30pm, Mon-Fri. Phone:

DISC: What do we do? We help users find social science data suitable for their research project, term paper, dissertation. We maintain one of the first, and largest webliography of sites that make data available. We archive, and make available locally produced social science datasets. We maintain a Blog of current social science data newsworthy items. We help researchers navigate the minefields of gaining access to restricted data.

DISC: Who are we? Cindy – Reference questions such as I need data on state allocation of funds for higher education on an annual rate since Lu – Maintains Websites for DISC, CDHA (Center for Demography of Health & Aging), and BADGIR (Better Access to Data for Global Interdisciplinary Research) DISC Archive and Crossroads Charlie – Census data, program files for statistical analysis (SAS, SPSS, Stata), DISC Website and Blog Jack – Restricted data access and security

How do I find data for my research project? I need data on population is as broad as saying I need a book on history. Define what it is you want to analyze, or prove, or illustrate. Define your variables. My research paper examines the welfare outcomes (educational attainment, employment, earnings) of young adults incarcerated as juveniles. Highest education level attained Employed vs. Unemployed Income Current age (18-25) Incarceration Age at incarceration Juvenile

Where do I find data for my research project? First, some words of advice: Be amenable to changing your topic. Serendipity is a good thing. Expect to go down the rabbit hole; not through the worm hole. The human mind is contextual; the internet is not. Now, to get started……..

ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research Search by variable Education Income Incarceration Juvenile

ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research Search by publication Hint: Type incarceration, to see the publication titles that are prompted. Click on a title. Read the abstract – does it sound promising? What dataset was analyzed for this publication?

Roper Center via iPOLL iPOLL allows you to search by question Education Income Incarceration Juvenile

UW Libraries Databases Search by subject, e.g. Sociology/Social Sciences or Economics Search by type, e.g Datasets, Statistics Click on SocialExplorer

DISCs Crossroads DISCs searchable annotated webliography of sites that offer data, Search for education, income, incarceration, then simply juvenile. Explore the two results (NDAS, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) for datasets Where can I get some child welfare data? -- Click on Statistics in left column, then click on Data Analysis Tools and National Data Sets in top menu bar.

Cite it right! Be sure to cite your data – as you would any other source used in your paper. DISCs citation guide:

Start your search for data sooner instead of later!

Archiving your data Locally produced datasets Why would you want to archive your data? Its becoming increasingly required by grants to do so Provides wider access Ensures ongoing usability

Current Awareness DISC News Blog, Current Awareness Social Science Research Reports, Current Awareness in Aging Report,

Crossroads Arguably one of the first, and most comprehensive collections of links to free, public data,

Restricted Data Datasets are generally restricted because of issues of confidentiality or geocoding; both of which potentially allow respondents to be identified, Used primarily by faculty and dissertators. Lengthy application process that can take longer than a semester.

Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom. -- Clifford Stoll, American astronomer and author