1. Module 4 Finding and Using Canadian Data
Faculty of Social Sciences Library Susan Mowers
Fall 2013

2. 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

3. 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

4. Data Services for Graduate Students

5. 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.

6. 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
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7. 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
Statistics Canada surveys A-Z: link
 Publications (see to left)
 Free  Order
Note also: Confidential Statistics Canada data: via Research Data Centre
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8. 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:
ICPSR also indexes journal articles with analysis results from ICPSR studies via or
Related Studies link on an ICPSR study page
Browse their YouTube channel at:
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9. 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:

10. 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:

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Our main data portal:
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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
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13. For Data help, the GSG Centre is located on the 3rd floor of Morisset,
for a Data appointment,
for a Government Information appointment,
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14. 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)

15. Before you choose your data …

16. 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)

17. Why data? Big data and Statistics today!
What can data bring to your research?

18. Data and Statistics today
“ 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 … ”

19. Data and Statistics Today …
Éditorial, « Why Statistics? », (2012), Science, Vol. 336 no. 6077, April 6th, p DOI: /science
… 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!

20. 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

21. Data in the Research Process
Steps as per MIT in detail

22. Data research in the Social Sciences
Understanding role of secondary data …

23. 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 ?
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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
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25. 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?

26. 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,
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27. First, data … What do we mean by “data”?
What are data and what are statistics …
What are the differences?

28. 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

29. 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!

30. Research Guide for Data and Statistics
Link:
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31. http://bit.ly/myuoresearch MyUOResearch
Module 5 – Getting Your Research Out …

32. bit.ly/eval-eng Q1 – Social Sciences
Q2 – Module 4 Q3 – 24 October/