ICPSR, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, based at the University of Michigan, is the world's largest archive of data related to social sciences research. KU faculty, students, and staff with a KU e-mail account can now download ICPSR data directly to their own computers through the ICPSR Direct service.
ICSPR data sets usually consist of two elements, the data files themselves and a codebook which provides information on the structure, contents, and layout of the data files. The codebook also provides much additional information about the data. When considering using ICPSR data studies it should be remember first that these files consist of primary or raw data and not statistics or derived information. Before downloading the data, check the description and perhaps the codebook as well to ascertain whether the study is really what is desired.
1) Search the archive of ICPSR data studies from the ICPSR homepage http://www.icpsr.umich.edu Users can search the entire web site, the data archive only, or both. Specify words or phrases in the title, the study number (if known), investigator, or words/phrases in all fields. Each study has a unique number assigned to identify that study. Check the "Data Holdings" box and uncheck the "Web Site" box to search only the archive of indexed data studies. Check the "Web Site" box and uncheck the "Data Holdings" box to search all other documents in the ICPSR web site other than the data studies. Check both boxes if you are uncertain which to search or want to search both categories simultaneously.
2) Clicking on "Data Access and Analysis" also displays the same search engine option, but also includes "Other Methods of Finding Data". Click on "Browse and Search Data by Subject" to browse data by topic under seventeen broad subject headings and subdivisions. The search may be narrowed further by clicking on "ICPSR Thesaurus", a searchable menu of specific subject terms, personal names, and geographic names used in the standardized ICPSR vocabulary system.
3) A listing of the most recent data sets added to the archive may be reviewed by clicking on "Recent Updates and Additions" linked from the "Data Access and Analysis" page.
4) Another category, "Special Topic Archives", linked from the "Data Access and Analysis" page, provides links to projects sponsored by agencies external to ICPSR, such as the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, Election 2000 at ICPSR, Census 2000 at ICPSR, or the Health and Medical Care Archive. Each of these special topic archives maintains its own website and most data are publicly available.
5) "Searching FAQ", also linked from the "Data Access and Analysis" page, provides help on strategies for searching and also answers other frequently asked questions.
1) The "Search Results" screen appears after a search is executed. This includes a list of data relevant to your search terms(s), title, researcher, study number, and the date the study was last updated. The results are displayed by title, but may be resorted by date or relevance.
2) Clicking on "Description" provides a summary of the data study's content, principal investigators, data type, extent of the collection, time period covered, date the study was performed, the source of data used, and data format. Links are provided to definitions explaining the terms used in the description.
3) Clicking on "Related Literature" provides citations to journal articles and other sources related to the topic of the data.
1) Click on "Downloads" for the selected study to begin the downloading procedure. Read the "Responsible Use Statement" which spells out the conditions that ICPSR expects its data users to observe. To be allowed to continue you will be asked to enter your e-mail address in a box. This will permit ICPSR computers to recognize you as an authorized user eligible to download data, If you are a first time user fill out and submit the registration form to proceed. After your e-mail address has been entered, click the "Click to Continue" buttom.
2) The "Downloads" screen for the selected study will then be displayed giving the study number, title, name of the investigator(s) and a listing of the datasets within that study. For each dataset, a link to download the data and the associated codebook for that file in compressed form is provided. Codebooks in PDF format may be downloaded by anyone, but to download the data you must be an authorized user as mentioned above.
3) Several links to useful information are provided from the "Downloads" page:
View Readme should always be read before downloading any file as it may provide important information about a study and will note any special characteristics.
Help with Downloads provides explanations of the different terms associated with downloads. Among these are links to: a) "Technical Problems with the Website" providing answers to frequently asked questions about downloading should trouble be encountered;"Description" provides a link to the "Description File" which links to "Abstract Field Descriptions", which provides definitions of the technical file terminology; c) "Download Compressed File" links to "Decompressing Zipped Files" which explains the unzipping process in greater detail; and d) "Codebooks and Documentation" links to "Codebook Files" which provides a detailed explanation of codebook structure and content. Description provides detailed information about the study being viewed, including the extent of the collection, data format, data type, collection notes, time period, etc. Links to view explanations of these categories are also available.
4) After a study has been selected and you are in the "Downloads" page, click on the "Download Compressed File" arrows to begin downloading the file to your computer. Be sure to download ALL compressed codebook and data files, if multiple files are listed, to get the entire data study. Some studies contain more files than can initially be displayed. Instead they are contained within hidden folders. Click on the "Open All Folders" icon to display these files for downloading and on "Close All Folders" to conceal them. Files are compressed by ICPSR using Gzip. Use WinZip to decompress the files after downloading (for IBM compatible PC's). If Winzip is already loaded on your computer, you can double-click on zipped files to view, then extract to a hard drive or disk and open.
5) Files may be saved for future download or, if there are many files, they can be batched for download by clicking on "Save for Download" button. Either entire studies or specific files can be saved. When a file is selected for saving, the file status will change to "Save". When you are ready to download, click on "Download Your Saved Files" and enter your e-mail address in the box which appears to display all your saved files for review. The option of deleting either entire studies or specific files so that they will not download is presented. After your review is complete, click on "Download Saved Files" to begin the download process, which will bundle all files into one zip file for a more convenient download.
If you need technical assistance with the process of downloading and using data or experience problems, you may contact Data Services in the KU Libraries. ( data@ku.edu ). Statistical consulting and assistance is available by contacting Academic Computing Services ( statistics@ku.edu ).
Roger Anderson
Bibliographer for Political Science and International Documents, Anschutz
Library
randerson@ku.edu
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Photos © The University of Kansas Office of University Relations. This file was modified 05/28/09 10:36:04 AM |