Faculty of Social Sciences LibrarySusan MowersFall 2013

Module 4Finding and Using Canadian Data

Outline

Data Services for graduate students Before you choose your data Finding and evaluating your data (by examples)

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

Data Services for Graduate Students

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.

uOttawa Libraryobtains 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

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• Browse A-Z list of DLI surveys : link• Browse and download DLI data via Odesi: link

How-to Odesi tutorials: link

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

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• Order process via the Web (license, then data)• Find PUMF file pages, e.g., CCHS 2008-09

• Statistics Canada surveys A-Z: link• Publications (see to left)• Free Order

Note also: Confidential Statistics Canada data: via Research Data Centre

uOttawa Library alsoobtains 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

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• Discover ICPSR data holding at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/index.jsp• ICPSR also indexes journal articles with analysis results from ICPSR studies via

• http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/citations/index.jsp or• Related Studies link on an ICPSR study page

• Browse their YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ICPSRWeb

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:http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/ICPSR/prize/index.html

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:http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/ICPSR/prize/index.html

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

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For Data help, the GSG Centre is located on the 3rd floor of Morisset,

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for a Data appointment, E-mail smowers@uottawa.cafor a Government Information appointment, E-mail : Catherine.McGoveran@uottawa.ca

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)

Before you choose your data …

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)

Why data?

Big data and Statistics today!

What can data bring to your research?

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 … ”

http://www.statistics2013.org/

Data and Statistics Today …

Éditorial, « Why Statistics? », (2012), Science, Vol. 336 no. 6077, April 6th, p. 12. DOI: 10.1126/science.1218685

… This field will become ever more critical as academia, businesses, and governments rely increasingly on data-driven decisions, expanding the demand for statistics expertise.”

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

Data in the Research Process

http://prezi.com/bfm1q_mrz8wz/copy-of-board2/

http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/steps-of-the-research-process

Steps as per MIT in detail

Data research in the Social Sciences

Understanding role of secondary data …

Use primary or secondary data?

Are secondary data …

(a)Data collected by someone else ?

(b)Not as good as primary data for publishing your research ?

(c)May be a research choice for graduate research, e.g., will I use primary data OR secondary data ?

(d)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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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?

Considerations before choosingyour source of secondary data

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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 ?

Source, The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3241e/w3241e03.htm

…. so you will need documentation in addition to the SPSS file!

First, data …

What do we mean by “data”?

• What are data and what are statistics … • What are the differences?

Look at census

Data and Statistics Compared

Data:

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 …

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!

Research Guide for Data and Statistics

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Link: http://uottawa.ca.libguides.com/Data

MYUORESEARCH

Module 5 – Getting Your Research Out …

http://bit.ly/myuoresearch

bit.ly/eval-engQ1 – Social Sciences Q2 – Module 4Q3 – 24 October/10 2013