Research Data Centre DLI Workshop (December, 2001) University of Alberta

What is a Research Data Centre? SSHRC and Statistics Canada joint initiative Houses Statistics Canada microdata files Secure Statistics Canada environment in a university setting Staffed by a Statistics Canada employee at all times Operates under the provisions of the Statistics Act

Major distinctions DLI : Extensive data range in terms of subjects covered. PUMF - no restriction on research projects. Variable detail maybe suppressed (geographic and classification). RDC: Household and population confidential longitudinal data files. Peer review both the proposal and the final paper. Researcher becomes “deemed employee” of Statistic Canada. Access suppressed variable details (output restriction). Both provide Statistics Canada data for students/staff free of charge.

Initial Data Holding Year 2001: National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) National Population Health Survey (NPHS) Year 2002: Workplace and employment survey - employee questionnaire (WES) Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) It is possible to access other surveys, the centres will host any household or population data, but only for approved project proposals. And Statistics Canada has the right to give or deny access to one or the another of its data files.

RDCs locations across Canada University of Alberta Through Canadian Children and Youth Research Network, Human Resource Development Canada funded researchers can accessing data through some of the RDCs - UBC, McMaster, Montreal, UNB. A project team can apply for more than one centre if its member are in a different locations. University of Calgary University of British Columbia Université de Montréal Dalhousie UNB University of Toronto McMaster University Waterloo University

When to refer researcher to RDC? Access suppressed data: Remote access (Subject Matter Division) Dummy data for creating model syntax. Special tabulation (Advisory Service) Direct access social and household confidential data (Head Office, Regional Offices, RDCs) Is there a need to access RDC? Advise on alternative public use data. Consult experts in campus and Statistics Canada. Longitudinal data – RDC.

What can DLI do to help making the decision? Provide documentation on the data set. Provide data dictionary (information on suppressed variables in PUMF). Contact RDC analysts.

RDC application process All researchers are welcome. Research proposal submit to SSHRC web site. http://www.sshrc.ca/rdc/english/applicants.html Evaluation will be done within 60 days. Enhance security clearances with STC. Agreed to become “deemed employee” of STC - Oath and research contract.

Application proposal Project Title Name and affiliation of principal investigator and co-investigators Project Objectives Data Requirements (including justification for microdata) Critical dates Sources of funding RDC in which research is to be conducted CVs for the team

Researchers should beware… Deal with time constraint when accessing the RDC - especially for researchers from outside the hosting universities campus. Coordinate the necessary experts in the project team. Need for data linkage (on high-level identifier such as geographic code). The approved proposal do not give access to ALL RDC data files.

Evaluation Criteria Necessity for access to detailed microdata and to the particular dataset(s) specified in proposal. Clearly defined project objectives. Suitability of analytical and statistical methods. Scientific merit of the project. Whether applicant and the team have the experience, qualifications, and expertise to successfully complete the proposed project.

Contact?

RDCs web sites UBC http://data.library.ubc.ca/rdc U of Alberta http://datalib.library.ualberta.ca/rdc U of Calgary http://www.ucalgary.ca/rdc U of Toronto http://www.utoronto.ca/rdc U of McMaster http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/rdc UNB http://www.unb.ca/rdc U of Montreal http://www.umontreal.ca