1. An Introduction to ICPSR: Resources for Psychology
Lynette Hoelter, Ph.D.
Director, Instructional Resources & Development
California Lutheran University
October 21, 2009

2. 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

3. What is ICPSR?

4. 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
As a sense of volume of downloads, total downloads for April 2009 = 303,103. (Member downloads make up 240,333 of those.)

5. 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

6. 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)

7. Popular Downloads:
American National Election Study: Pre- and Post-Election Survey (2004)
American Time Use Survey
Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys
Cumulative file, : National Comorbidity Survey Replication, National Survey of American Life, National Latino and Asian American Study
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of
General Social Survey (Cumulative )
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

8. Supporting Social Science Research

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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)

14. Using Data in Class: Modules based on Research Methods
Online Learning Center
TeachingWithData.org
Data-Related Bibliography
Online Analysis

15. 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

16. 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

17. Intended for use in introductory-level substantive classes.
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
Future Planning:
Online Learning Center:
Broader topical and analytic coverage in OLC
Tool for instructors to deposit DDLGs
Web 2.0 features in OLC
Quantitative Social Science Digital Library
Partnership with the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN)
Scheduled to launch Summer 2009
Assessment tools/suggestions for quantitative literacy

18. Using the OLC: How to Find It
Directly:
Through ICPSR homepage (
Under Teaching & Learning
In list of Thematic Collections
Coming soon: Data-driven learning guides linked from datasets under “Teach” section on study home page

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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)

22. 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! 22

23. 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

24. For More Info: Explore the website - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/
Sign up for our announcements -
Attend or view our webinars (open to the public!) -
View sessions from our virtual OR meeting (Oct. 2009) -
Get help! – (User Support)

25. Remaining Questions?...
Lynette Hoelter