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) Before you choose your data Role of statistics What can data give you? Sources and when do you need to look elsewhere? Choosing and finding your data What is best for you? Describing, analysing, comparing? Searching for data

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 non-confidential “public” means anonymized so you can’t identify individual survey respondents Major way Library obtains data Browse A-Z list of DLI surveys : link Browse and download DLI data via Odesi: link How-to Odesi tutorials: link Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

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 Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

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 But not completely open EITHER DLI or ICPSR Educational access to public data very good (e.g., DLI, ICPSR), Major way Library obtains data 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 Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

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

Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer Our main data portal: Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer 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 CONTENT: Data and data documentation are published in both English and French on Odesi Data from thousands of surveys Searches also international data archive, icpsr.umich.edu ACCESS: Searchable by anyone Only postsecondary institutions may download data and data documentation Fully accessible via uOttawa library web site, on or off campus Best used with Chrome or Safari Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

For Data help, the GSG Centre is located on the 3rd floor of Morisset, for a Data appointment, E-mail smowers@uottawa.ca for a Government Information appointment, E-mail : Catherine.McGoveran@uottawa.ca Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

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.” BIG DATA HAVE ARRIVED, SO DATA SKILLS ARE CRITICAL DATA SERVICES TO HELP YOU … LEARN HOW MUCH OF IT WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE AFTER GRADUATION ! EVEN STC!

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-research-process 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 … Data collected by someone else ? Not 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 ? Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer 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 Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

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 Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

First, data … What do we mean by “data”? What are data and what are statistics … What are the differences?

Data and Statistics Compared Electronic Raw material Not analysed or processed Not report ready: processing required Statistics May be electronic Data “summaries” Presentation ready and often ready to use May not be in numeric form, statistics often visually communicated: graphs, maps … Look at census

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 Click View then Header and Footer to change this footer

http://bit.ly/myuoresearch 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