Academic Data Centre We have data and are willing to help you use it

Who we are The ADC provides the following services: – Access to statistical and geospatial data – One-on-one consultations for Finding statistics and geospatial files Using statistics and GIS software (SPSS, SAS, ArcGIS etc.) Running statistical methods and spatial analyses – In-class instruction and online tutorials Room 1104, Leddy Library (next to Williams' Coffee Pub).

Micro and Macro Microdata is about individuals, macrodata is about populations Macrodata (“statistics”) is country, state or region level data such as employment rate, GDP, infant mortality, etc. Microdata (“raw data”) is data on individual people or units such as households, stocks or firms

Primary and Secondary Data Primary data: data you collect yourself, to answer your specific research question Secondary data: data collected by some other researcher or institution which you are repurposing to answer your research question – May be used as main focus of research or provide supplementary information

Geospatial data? Geospatial data is the composite of spatial data and attribute data, describing: – Attribute information: What is it? – Location information: Where is it? Macro and environmental data are good for mapping Building Type: Office Height: 100 ft. Condition: Good

Where does data come from? Public: governments, inter-governmental organizations like the UN and the World Bank – Censuses, Statistics Canada, U.N. Multiple Indicator Surveys, Spatial, Environment (water samples, emissions, climate) Non-profit: NGOs, charities, think tanks – International Food Policy Research Institute, Pew Research Centre Academic: individual researchers and research collaborations Private: media, corporations etc. collect data – Gallup and other polls are archived; non-news related private data is usually hard to obtain

Public vs. private: it’s the money Publically funded institutions have a mandate to spend their money towards certain goals and are held accountable to the public Private institutions / businesses have no such mandate and are not accountable beyond what is required by law Most publically available data comes from public institutions and the occasional interested and persistent researcher

Statistics on business, industry and economics Companies prefer to not give data away, unless required by law (government industry statistics), required by shareholders (company reports), or as a result of interacting with other entities (e.g. stock market) Three main sources: – governmental (including IGO) – companies themselves – published business / industry analysis and trade statistics

Government Data Statistics Canada and others

National Data Collection Every country (more or less) has a census Conducted at 5 or 10 year intervals Since a complete sample, often the only source for very small area data Most developed countries also conduct a number of large scale surveys (economic / employment, health, etc.) Countries also collect data for administrative purposes (trade, tax, voting records, immigration etc.)

Canada National Statistics Agency: Statistics CanadaStatistics Canada – Collect or compile statistics on demographics, health, economics, agriculture… Turned over collection of some health statistics (hospital based records in particular) to Canadian Institute for Health InformationCanadian Institute for Health Information Public Health Agency of Canada tracks data on threats to public health, including diseases and injuries. Has the Canadian Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect Public Health Agency of CanadaCanadian Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect Individual government departments also may release statistics that they have collected for their own purposes – e.g. C.I.C. tracks immigration statistics immigration statistics Provinces don’t have provincial statistical agencies per se, but again departments may compile and release some data

Getting Microdata Public-Use Microdata Files (PUMFs) released through Data Liberation Initiative, can be downloaded through ODESI or Equinox.Data Liberation InitiativeODESIEquinox Restricted-Use data files can be accessed through our Research Data CentreResearch Data Centre Not all Statistics Canada data is made available though the RDCs (or at all); see lists of available RDC data here and here.here CIHI – see their Graduate Student Data Access ProgramGraduate Student Data Access Program

Environmental: Canada National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) Databases National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) Databases Environment Canada Indicators – Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators – Adjusted and Homogenized Canadian Climate Data Adjusted and Homogenized Canadian Climate Data – Air Quality and Ozone Levels Air Quality and Ozone Levels

United States Multiple statistical agencies – no centralized collection or distribution point – Census Bureau Census Bureau – National Center for Health Statistics National Center for Health Statistics – Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics – Bureau of Economic Analysis Bureau of Economic Analysis – National Center for Education Statistics National Center for Education Statistics U.S. public use government data tends to be more detailed than Canadian (has detail that in Canada would be restricted) U.S. restricted data is sometimes not allowed to leave the country.

Environmental: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database – National Emissions Inventories National Emissions Inventories National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Earth System Research Laboratory Earth System Research Laboratory – National Geophysical Data Center National Geophysical Data Center

Other Countries Most other (non-U.S.) countries have national statistical agencies – U.K.: Office for National Statistics U.K.: Office for National Statistics – Australia: Bureau of Statistics… Australia: Bureau of Statistics The official statistical agency is generally the one that does the census Some countries have national data archives that will archive government and other data – UK National Data Archive UK National Data Archive – Australian Data Archive Australian Data Archive

International data: inter-governmental, nonprofit non-governmental

What? Intergovernmental Organizations / IGOs – International, established by treaty or charter e.g. U.N., World Bank, OECD… Non-Governmental (NGOs) – Non-profits, may be associated with one of the above, may be national or international, e.g. Amnesty International, Demographic and Health Surveys, International Food Policy Research Institute In less developed countries, these are a primary source for population welfare data that in developed countries is collected by the government Also good source for international comparative data

Basic Sources Population, Economic, infrastructure etc: – U.N. Data – data.un.org. Data – data.un.org – World Bank’s World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance (and others)World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance Health: – World Health Organization World Health Organization A primary source for diseases, mortality, risk factors – DOLPHN: Data Online for Population, Health and Nutrition (USAID) DOLPHN: Data Online for Population, Health and Nutrition Draws on W.H.O., DHS, various other survey as well as government sources Environment: – U.N. Environmental Data ExplorerEnvironmental Data Explorer – Center for International Earth Science Information Network Environmental Sustainability Index and Population, Landscape, and Climate Estimates (PLACE) Environmental Sustainability IndexPopulation, Landscape, and Climate Estimates (PLACE)

Major Population Welfare survey series Living Standards Measurement Surveys (World Bank) Living Standards Measurement Surveys – Focus: consumption and income, good demographics – Coverage: 40+ mostly middle-income countries Demographic and Health Surveys (organization of the same name) Demographic and Health Surveys – Focus: health, particularly reproductive – Coverage: 90: low- and middle-income countries, good demographics Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (United Nations / Unicef) Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys – Focus: child health and welfare, reproductive health; limited demogrpahics – 65+ low and middle income countries

Academic Research Data Using the data of researchers who had better funding than you

Really big World Values Surveys – Survey of the “basic values and beliefs of the publics of more than 80 societies” Global Barometer and the Barometers – Includes Afrobarometer, Arab Barometer, Asian Barometer, and Latinobarometro. Eurobarometer is separate.Eurobarometer International Social Survey Programme Comparative Study of Electoral Systems – Collaborative program of research among election study teams from around the world.

Individual researchers and smaller projects ICPSR is the world's largest archive of social science data – more than 8,500 research studies. ICPSR – International in focus but majority of the data is American. – Individual researchers generally choose whether or not to deposit their data – and under what restrictions – Features to note: special topic archives, variables databasespecial topic archivesvariables database Canadian Opinion Research Archive Harvard’s Murray Archive / Lives Over Time Harvard’s Murray Archive – Source for some major longitudinal studies

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