Archive of 2002 Announcements

ICPSR to Celebrate 40th Anniversary at OR Meeting in October 2003

The 27th Biennial Meeting of ICPSR Official Representatives (ORs) will take place October 9-12, 2003, in Ann Arbor on the University of Michigan campus. ORs are encouraged to attend this special meeting, which will also serve as a forum to celebrate ICPSR's 40th anniversary of service to the social science community. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us in October for this important milestone. More information about the meeting will be available soon on the OR pages of the ICPSR Web site.

2002-11-26

ICPSR Move Completed

The move to our new offices in the Perry building went quite smoothly, and we were able to keep Web site inaccessibility to a minimum. The total downtime of the Web site was about four hours (approx 4:30pm EST to 8:30pm EST, Friday, Dec. 13). Our thanks for your patience during the move.

2002-12-16

ICPSR Web Site Down this Weekend

ICPSR will be moving into its new offices this weekend (Dec. 13-15). As such, our Web server will be unavailable during the move. It is anticipated that ICPSR online services such as email delivery to staff, mailing list management, the Web site, etc. will be unavailable during the period between 12:00 EST on Friday, December 13, 2002, and 08:00 EST Monday, December 16, 2002.

2002-12-09

2000 Census Activities Continue Apace

With funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, ICPSR is rapidly acquiring, enhancing, and releasing data from the 2000 Census. ICPSR has made available a total of 39,655 discrete files from the following Census components:

P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Files
Summary File 1 - Advanced National, Final National, and States
Summary File 2 - Advanced National and States
Summary File 3 - States and National

ICPSR has prepared SAS, SPSS, and Stata data definition statements for each of these collections.

In addition, ICPSR has created subsets from Summary File 1, Advance National and Summary File 1, States. Each subset comprises all of the cases in one of seven census summary levels: the nation, states, counties, places, five-digit ZIP code tabulation areas, whole census tracts, and census tracts in places.

See the ICPSR Census 2000 Web site for more information about data products available from ICPSR.

2002-11-26

ICPSR Receives Sun Equipment Grant

In the fall of 2002, ICPSR took possession of a new Sun server through participation in the Sun Academic Equipment Grant program. The system consists of a SunFire 280R server, two 900 MHz SPARC-III processors, two GB of memory, two 36GB 10K RPM disk drives, and a 100 Mb/s Ethernet interface. ICPSR's Computing and Network Services unit intends to use the new equipment for testing new software before deploying it on production systems.

2002-11-26

ICPSR Sponsors MCRDC Seat

To benefit its members, ICPSR is purchasing a "seat" in the Michigan Census Research Data Center (MCRDC), and researchers from ICPSR member institutions may apply to use the seat without paying MCRDC laboratory fees. The MCRDC enables qualified researchers with approved projects to access confidential, unpublished Census Bureau data. A joint project of the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the University of Michigan, the MCRDC is located in the Institute for Social Research on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, MI.

Any researcher seeking to use the MCRDC must submit a proposal. Proposals are reviewed by the MCRDC, by the Census Bureau, and, for proposals that use data it provides to the Census Bureau, by the Internal Revenue Service. The research conducted in the MCRDC must have a Census Bureau (Title 13) purpose. Researchers with approved projects must obtain special sworn status with the Census Bureau to access the MCRDC. The MCRDC Proposal Review Board and the Census Bureau will review projects for Census Bureau purpose, disclosure risk, feasibility, and scientific merit. Funding of a project by a granting agency such as the NSF or the National Institutes of Health will be taken as evidence of scientific merit, but is not necessary to establish scientific merit.

Proposals are currently reviewed by the MCRDC three times a year, with deadlines for submission to the Census Bureau in mid-September, mid-January, and mid-April. Proposals must be reviewed by the MCRDC at least a month before the final submission deadline. The MCRDC works closely with researchers in drafting their proposals and invites queries from qualified researchers about the potential projects. Given the complexity of accessing these data, researchers are urged to contact the MCRDC early in the process of developing proposals.

To apply to use the ICPSR-supported seat, researchers should submit a copy of their MCRDC research proposal, together with a brief letter requesting use of the ICPSR seat, to Erik Austin, ICPSR Director of Archival Development, at least one week before submission of a proposal to the MCRDC. Note that ICPSR's role in the application process is only to verify ICPSR membership and does not involve proposal review. More detailed information about the MCRDC as well as tips on writing successful proposals can be found on the MCRDC Web site.

To contact staff at the center, send email to mcrdc@umich.edu. For more information about ICPSR support for research at the MDRDC, contact Erik Austin at erik@icpsr.umich.edu.

2002-11-26

"Teach-methods" List Established

ICPSR has created a new email list called Teach-methods for those interested in sharing ideas and information about teaching research methods in the social sciences. This list was established as a result of interest expressed during the 2001 Official Representatives meeting in a session chaired by Paula Lackie, Carleton College, on teaching research methods to undergraduates. Paula administers the list along with Laurie Howland, ICPSR Senior Computer Systems Specialist.

To subscribe to the list, please visit the Site for Instructional Materials and Information (SIMI) on the ICPSR site.

2002-11-26

ICPSR Moving Plans

ICPSR is preparing for a mid-December move to the Perry School building, a former elementary school built in 1903, and purchased by the the University of Michigan in 1963. The historic bulding has been renovated by the University specifically for ICPSR's needs.

As part of this move, it is anticipated that ICPSR online services such as email delivery to staff, mailing list management, the Web site, etc. will be unavailable at times during the period between 12:00 EST on Friday, December 13, 2002, and 08:00 EST Monday, December 16, 2002.

The new street address for ICPSR is 330 Packard, Ann Arbor, but we encourage those communicating with ICPSR to use the standard Institute for Social Research address:

P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

The main ICPSR phone number will be (734) 647-5000.

2002-11-26

ICPSR Moving Plans

ICPSR will be moving to a new location on the University of Michigan campus in mid-December 2002. As part of this move, ICPSR online services such as email delivery to staff, mailing list management, the Web site, etc. will be unavailable at times.

We expect these services to be unavailable between 20:00 EST on Friday, December 13, 2002 and 08:00 EST Monday, December 16, 2002. Actual downtime may be significantly less than this, but ICPSR reserves this entire window to ensure that there is plenty of time to execute the move and to restore services.

2002-11-01

Depositing Data Definition Statements Made Easy

ICPSR welcomes the submission of data definition statements by ORs for addition to the ICPSR archive. Making files that you have created available in this way benefits the larger social science research community. To this end, ICPSR has put together a simple form to enable ORs to easily deposit data definition statements. After receiving your file, ICPSR will review and test the statements before releasing them publicly.

2002-11-01

2002 Summer Program: 40 Years and (Still) Counting

The 2002 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research was by far the largest and most ambitious in the history of the organization. A total of 692 participants attended the Program--a 15.5% increase over the last summer's record enrollment of 599. In addition to the University of Michigan, workshops were held at the University of North Carolina, Harvard University, Indiana University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

More than 45 courses--lectures and workshops--were offered this year. New courses included the following topics:

Bayesian Methods
Statistical Computing in S
Use of the Eurobarometers
Use of the World Values Surveys
Linear, Nonlinear, and Nonparametric Regression
Advanced Topics in Network Analysis
Providing Social Science Data Services

The first Summer Program was held in 1963, so the 2002 Program marked our 40th year of educating and training social science scholars. It was also one of our most successful.

2002-10-09

New Director of CNS Hired

Bryan Beecher has joined the ICPSR staff as Director of Computing and Networking Services. Mr. Beecher has extensive experience in network systems operations and service. He was a founder of the Internet traffic engineering software producer Caimis, which was a spin-off of the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis at the Supercomputing Center of the University of California, San Diego. This entrepreneurial experience, with its academic associations, will enable him to bring a useful perspective to ICPSR. Mr. Beecher was also the Director of Branded Dial/DSL Service Delivery and of Reseller Services at UUNet Technologies.

Mr. Beecher's long-range goals for ICPSR's technological framework include the exploration of alternative technologies for delivering server-based services. In the next few months, Mr. Beecher will focus on executing the move to the Perry Building with minimal downtime for staff and services. He plans also to implement service level requirements for ICPSR's Web-based initiatives, and to facilitate the database projects that are already in process.

Mr. Beecher received his undergraduate and graduate education in Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan.

2002-10-09

Resident Scientist Joins NACDA Staff

Duane F. Alwin is the 2002-2003 Resident Scientist for the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging. Dr. Alwin is the McCourtney Professor of Sociology, Human Development, and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Alwin received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his graduate education at the University of Wisconsin. Prior to moving to Penn State he spent 23 years at the University of Michigan, where he held appointments in the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research and the Department of Sociology. From 1983 to 1995 Alwin directed the SRC Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques and from 1998 to 2000 he chaired the Sociology Department at Michigan. The focus of his research and teaching includes families and children, aging and the life course, and the linkages between processes of individual development, history and social change. He is co-author of Political Attitudes Over the Life-Span: The Bennington Women After Fifty Years (Wisconsin, 1991) and has authored or coauthored more than 100 scholarly articles and chapters on topics related to human development and aging. He is currently a member of Council of the Section on Aging and the Life Course and a past chair of the Section on Social Psychology of the American Sociological Association. He has been the recipient of 15 major research grants from NSF, NIMH and NIA. His two current research grants are entitled "Socio-Economic Status, Social Psychological Resources, and Health," and "Latent Growth Curve Models of Cognitive Aging," both funded by the National Institute on Aging.

2002-10-09

Bibliography of Data-related Literature Available

ICPSR announces the launching of the new ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature. This database contains over 24,000 citations of known published and unpublished works resulting from analyses of data held in the ICPSR archive. Developed with support from the National Science Foundation (SES-9977984), the bibliography represents over 40 years of scholarship in the quantitative social sciences, extending from the inception of ICPSR in 1962 to the present.

The bibliography can be accessed through two avenues:

Through each study description, at the top of the page is a link called "Related Literature" (below Downloads, File Information, and Printer-friendly page). This will take you to a list of publications based on that study. This link replaces the former field called "Related Publications".
The Bibliography is also a searchable database, accessed through a link in the lower right side of the study search page. From here, you can search for authors, titles, publishers, departments, and organizations. Through the advanced search page, you can do Boolean searching and limit to particular types of publications, such as Conference Proceedings only. On the search results pages, under each citation, you will find a link to related data in the ICPSR archive. These are the data collections used by the authors to generate their findings.

In most cases, analyses of numeric data formed the foundation for the literature, although in some cases the data played a less prominent role in supporting the research. The literature includes journal articles, books, book chapters, government and agency reports, working papers, dissertations, conference papers, meeting presentations, unpublished manuscripts, audiovisual materials, and electronic resources. When a publication is freely available online, the citation includes a link to that document.

This is an ongoing project that is being updated and expanded regularly. See the Methodology Report for sources and search strategies used to collect citations. Additions and corrections are welcome. If you have published work that is based on ICPSR data, please send us the citation using our online Bibliography Citation Submission form. We have also provided a link to this form from the Bibliography home page.

We also welcome comments and suggestions for enhanced usability of the bibliography. Please use our Bibliography Comments form, also linked from the Bibliography home page.

2002-09-24

New Members Join ICPSR

ICPSR is pleased to announce that several new member institutions have joined the Consortium since Fall 2001. We extend a sincere welcome to the following new members:

University of Alaska, Anchorage -- Category B
Bocconi University, Italian Federation -- Category N
Bryn Mawr College (became independent member) -- Category S
University of California at San Francisco (reinstated) -- Category B
University of Cape Town (South Africa) -- Category C
CIDE Center for Research and Teching Economics (Mexico) -- Category C
Estado University De Campinas (Brazil) -- Category C
Fo Guang Humanity and Social Science College (Taiwan) -- Category C
Fort Valley State University (reinstated) -- Category S
Howard University (reinstated) -- Category A
Kenyon College, Associated Colleges of the Midwest Federation (reinstated) -- Category S
University of Lisbon (Portugal) -- Category C
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany) -- Category B
Messiah College -- Category B
University of Minnesota-Duluth -- Category B
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) -- Category C
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) -- Associate Membership
National University of Singapore -- Category C
Western Washington University (reinstated) -- Category B

2002-07-26

ICPSR System Down Unexpectedly

2002-07-13

Search for ICPSR Director of Computer and Network Services

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) has opened a search for a Director of Computer and Network Services. The text of our print advertisement is reproduced below.

We are interested in receiving suggestions and nominations, as well as applications, for this position. Please help us identify the best possible candidates for this extremely important responsibility at ICPSR.

Instructions for application can be found on the University of Michigan employment Web site at: http://www.umich.edu/~jobs/current/postings/T-022773-PR.html (link now dead)

Send your nominations, suggestions, and questions to Rita Bantom (rybantom@icpsr.umich.edu).

Lead ICPSR into the Future of Computing

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan provides computerized social science data to users at more than 500 colleges and universities around the world.

Director of Computer and Network Services

This is an exceptional opportunity to lead our technology group as it provides state-of-the-art services to a growing internal and external user community of students, instructors and researchers. Responsibilities include providing leadership in developing and implementing the technological direction of the largest archive of digital social science data in the world. You will also represent ICPSR's technological vision in public settings in the U.S. and abroad.

To qualify, you must possess a Master's degree in Computing and Information Science or equivalent education/experience. Knowledge of diverse computing environments and data distribution facilities is also required, as is experience with health and social science data, and with web-based delivery of knowledge and services.

We offer a highly competitive compensation and benefits package. To apply, please submit your resume to: University of Michigan, ICPSR, Attn: R. Bantom, P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248.

Or apply to: http://www.umich.edu/~jobs/current/postings/T-022773-PR.html

More information on the web at www.icpsr.umich.edu

A Non-Discriminatory, Affirmative Action Employer

2002-06-06

ICPSR Receives New Grants

Census 2000

ICPSR has received word that its grant application to the National Science Foundation for funding Census 2000-related activities were successful. The Census 2000 project has six key activities:

Acquisition and long-term archiving of substantially all data produced by the 2000 Censuses of Population and of Housing
Reformatting census data to facilitate use in statistical analysis programs
Development of standardized documentation for census data that is compliant with the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) standard
Development of new data products, including special subsamples and special summary files, that serve the special needs of academic researchers
Provision of Web-based access to the data. The Web-based system will include a data-finder and custom subsetting capabilities to allow researchers to find and acquire the data needed for specific research applications.
Provision of training and outreach activities to encourage use of the data

DDI

ICPSR and the Roper Center jointly have received a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation to continue the activities of the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) for an additional year. The DDI is an international program to produce a publicly available standard in XML for the metadata that describe social and behavioral science data.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (Renewal)

The continuation of this project, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, will enable NACJD staff to augment and enhance this special topic archive, which is a national resource for research on crime and the criminal justice system. The NACJD provides assistance, training, and support services in the preparation, documentation, and use of crime and justice archival data for secondary analysis.

2002-04-11

ORs Taking Sabbaticals at ICPSR

ICPSR is pleased to announce that it will host two Official Representatives in Ann Arbor for the 2002 OR Sabbatical Opportunity program.

Michal Peleg, of the Israel Social Sciences Data Center, Hebrew University, will be joining ICPSR from April 3 to June 11. Michal will be working on reorganizing data processing procedures in view of the Web as a major distribution platform and growing user demands.

Jim Oberly, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will visit ICPSR from May 15 to June 15. His focus will be the preparation of instructional datasets using ICPSR data. This relates to the role that Jim has played on the ICPSR Subcommittee for Instructional Materials and Information (SIMI).

Michal and Jim will report on their sabbaticals in the ICPSR Bulletin during the coming academic year.

2002-04-11

Instructional Modules Invited

The ICPSR Site for Instructional Materials and Information (SIMI) is being redesigned. The core of the site will consist of modules that can be downloaded and modified for classroom use. At present, there are modules on the sociology of religion and on macroeconomics. Instructors interested in contributing modules to the collection should contact John Korey at jlkorey@csupomona.edu.

Interested users may visit the site at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ORG/Other_Resources/SIMI/simi.html. The site also includes links to instructional datasets in the ICPSR archives and to external sites providing teaching resources ranging from Java applets to online data analysis tools and comprehensive online textbooks.

2002-04-11

ICPSR to Move to New Location

ICPSR will be moving its headquarters in late 2002 to the Perry Building, a historic structure at the edge of the University of Michigan campus. Located at the intersection of Packard Street and Madison, the Perry Building was built in 1902 to house an elementary school and in 1965 was purchased by the University of Michigan. The move to Perry will provide more square footage and growth space for ICPSR, which currently is occupying rental space in two locations.

Definitive dates for the move will be communicated as soon as they are available, as will new telephone and fax numbers. The move will most likely take place over a weekend, with only a brief interruption in data delivery anticipated.

2002-04-11

New council members elected

ICPSR is pleased to announce the newly elected slate of ICPSR Council members, who will serve four-year terms beginning in March 2002. New members include:

William Darity Jr., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ilona Einowski, University of California, Berkeley
Elisabeth R. Gerber, University of Michigan
Franklin Gilliam, University of California at Los Angeles
John Handy, Morehouse College
Mark Hayward, Pennsylvania State University

Please note that Kathleen McGraw, Ohio State University, was officially elected to Council but has notified us that she will be unable to serve. Acting in accordance with the Bylaws, the Council selected Elisabeth Gerber, University of Michigan, as the sixth Council member. Ann Green, Yale University, will act as chair of the 2002-2004 Council.

Continuing Council members include John L. Korey, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; J. Scott Long, Indiana University; Steven Ruggles, University of Minnesota; James Sweet, University of Wisconsin; and Bo Wandschneider, University of Guelph.

Outgoing Council members are Margo Anderson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (who continues for one year as Past Chair); Charles Betsey, Howard University; Stephen Fienberg, Carnegie Mellon University; Diane Geraci, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Paula McClain, Duke University; and Huey L. Perry, Southern University, Baton Rouge.

ICPSR thanks the outgoing Council members for their years of service, and warmly welcomes the incoming members. Biographical sketches of the new and continuing members of Council are available on the ICPSR Web site at:

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/org/governance/council.html

2002-02-08

Depositing data definition statements

In the course of their work to support local data users, Official Representatives often create SAS, SPSS, and Stata data definition statements for ICPSR studies that lack these auxiliary files. We encourage ORs to deposit such files with ICPSR to benefit the larger research community.

To deposit data definition statements, please send email to deposit@icpsr.umich.edu to notify us of your intention. You will be provided with instructions for sending the files to ICPSR. Thank you in advance for your contributions.

2002-02-08

ICPSR receives 2000 census grant

ICPSR has received word that its grant application to the National Science Foundation for funding Census 2000-related activities was successful. The project will begin February 1, 2002. To find out more about the project objectives and tasks, read the project summary (PDF 8K).

2002-JAN-09

ICPSR releases social science controlled vocabulary system

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) has developed a controlled vocabulary system to assist users searching its social science data archives. As part of a larger project to enhance and expand online archival search capabilities, the controlled vocabulary system consists of a subject thesaurus, a name authority list, and geographic region/country name list. Currently there are over 2800 subject terms, 200 personal names, and 500 geographic terms. Using terms selected from these lists, searches can be implemented on the ICPSR 'basic' and 'advanced' search pages. Additionally, you can search the Archive from within the controlled lists by clicking on "search this term" located on the term display page.

In conjunction with the development of the controlled vocabularies, ICPSR is in the process of indexing the archive metadata collection. Until the indexing is completed, searches using the controlled vocabularies will focus on the full-text of the metadata record and not the subject term field.

Please visit the ICPSR Controlled Vocabulary Web site at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/thesaurus/index.html

2002-01-20

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