Archive of 2006 Announcements

New Online Analysis Interface Introduced

ICPSR has recently deployed Version 3.0 of the Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) software, which provides a new interface to the studies available for online analysis. SDA Version 3.0, developed by the University of California, Berkeley, enables users to browse and select variables for analysis and choose a specific type of analysis from a single browser window.

Visit our site for more information on SDA 3.0 and to view the complete list of the more than 300 studies available for online analysis.

2006-12-13

ICPSR Launches New Online Deposit Form

We are pleased to announce the availability of the online version of ICPSR's Deposit Form. The ICPSR Deposit Form is submitted to ICPSR along with research data and other types of research resources intended for archiving and dissemination. The new online form allows depositors to enter information about a submission using their Web browser and to upload files to ICPSR through a secure Internet connection. Users may save information they have entered in the form at any stage, and return to complete the form later at their convenience. The online form can be accessed by multiple users, allowing for collaboration and verification of Deposit Form information with colleagues and staff.

Please direct any questions about the online deposit form or the deposit process to Amy Pienta: deposit@icpsr.umich.edu.

View the Deposit form

2006-12-01

ICPSR Welcomes New Consortium Members

Job Posting: Director, ICPSR Summer Program

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) seeks to appoint a distinguished social science educator as Director of the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. This individual will lead ICPSR's world-famous program of advanced training in the social sciences. The holder of this position will provide leadership for ICPSR's on-site and off-site training for graduate students and faculty. She or he will work closely with other members of ICPSR's leadership, with the members of ICPSR's instructional faculty and the Summer Program's Advisory Committee, as well as ICPSR's governing Council. The Director of the ICPSR Summer Program has primary responsibility for recruiting, retaining, and interacting with the Program's outstanding faculty, and in overseeing student work and relationships with students. This position involves the management of a small year-round staff, plus overall supervision of a seasonal group of nearly 100 faculty, teaching assistants, and support staff. Recruiting and maintaining a diverse faculty and student population are important components of the job.

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), established in 1962, is an integral part of the international infrastructure of social science research. ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use.

ICPSR invites nominations for the position (including self-nominations). Anyone with suggestions or nominations should send them to ICPSR Director Myron Gutmann by email (gutmann@icpsr.umich.edu) or at the mailing address below.

"The Summer Program is ICPSR's crown jewel," says ICPSR Director Myron Gutmann, "and finding an outstanding successor for Hank Heitowit when he retires is critically important for us. I hope to hear from everyone in the ICPSR community who can help us identify and recruit the next Director of the Summer Program."

A full description of the position, including requirements, can be found on the University of Michigan Jobs site -- see posting #2567. Applicants should submit a letter of application, a CV, three letters of reference, and relevant writing samples to:

Myron P. Gutmann
Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Professor of History
The University of Michigan
PO Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

2006-08-16

Post-doctoral Research Position at the University of Michigan

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan invites applications for a postdoctoral research position to work on a study of agriculture, environment, and population since 1880 in the U.S. Great Plains. This multi-disciplinary project uses a combination of census and environmental data to study long-term interactions.

We envision a two-year appointment, with the possibility of renewal, and a flexible start date on or after April 1, 2006. Requirements include a Ph.D. in an appropriate field, a strong research background, and an interest in the relationship between agriculture, environment, and population. We are especially interested in applicants with training in agricultural history, environmental history, ecosystem modeling, geographical information systems, or demographic research.

Salary will be in the $45,000 to $50,000 range, with standard University of Michigan benefits. Please send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, and writing samples to:

Myron Gutmann, Director, ICPSR
University of Michigan
P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI, 48106-1248

Email inquiries can be sent to gutmann@umich.edu. We will consider applications beginning on January 31, 2007.

2006-11-15

ICPSR Launches Undergraduate Research Paper Competition

ICPSR Director Myron Gutmann announced a new annual event that will take place at the beginning of the academic year -- the ICPSR Undergraduate Research Paper Competition.

The purpose of the competition is to highlight exemplary undergraduate student research papers based on quantitative data. The objective is to encourage undergraduates to explore the social sciences by means of critical analysis of a topic supported by quantitative analysis of a dataset(s) held within the ICPSR archive and presented in written form.

Up to three cash prizes will be awarded. The winner will receive a monetary award of $1,000. Second place receives $750 and third place $500.

The deadline for paper submission is January 31, 2007.

Details on the competition can be found on the ICPSR Web site.

2006-09-18

New Online Modules for Social Science Instruction

ICPSR is pleased to offer two new online instructional modules focusing on social science methods for introductory level undergraduate or graduate courses. These modules were authored by the 2006 ICPSR Official Representative Fellows: Lori M. Weber, California State University, Chico (Investigating Community and Social Capital) and Rachael Barlow, Trinity College, Hartford (Exploring Data Through Research Literature).

Investigating Community and Social Capital

Investigating Community and Social Capital is an instructional module that teaches data analysis of social capital, as discussed in Robert D. Putnam's Bowling Alone. The site introduces students to quantitative social science research with a case study on social capital. Concepts illustrated include replication, unit of analysis, level of measurement, analysis over time versus cross-sectional analysis, crosstabulation, creating an index, and correlation. This resource is intended to enhance courses in disciplines such as political science, public administration and policy, and sociology.

Exploring Data Through Research Literature

Exploring Data Through Research Literature is an instructional module that uses ICPSR's Bibliography of Data-Related Literature to teach students how to conduct research in the social sciences. Each exercise requires students to locate academic journal articles and consider those articles within an encompassing disciplinary context. EDRL aims to support the traditional collaboration of faculty and librarians by illustrating how to effectively use new technological platforms to teach and conduct scholarship and research.

2006-11-30

ICPSR Summer Internship Program Announcement

Summer Interns will work in a UNIX and Windows environment and gain experience using statistical programs such as SAS, SPSS, and Stata to check data. Data processing skills will be applied to prepare social science data for permanent archiving and distribution for secondary analysis; preserving respondent anonymity; and composing descriptions of data collections. To qualify for this opportunity, applicants should have undergraduate standing and completion of sophomore year in a social science major. In addition, strong academic credentials, knowledge of a statistical software package and previous relevant social science research experience via work or class project.

Interested individuals should submit a complete packet of a cover letter, resume, a writing sample, and two letters of recommendation by the application deadline, January 5, 2007.

For more information on the program please consult our full description of the 2007 Summer Internship Program on our Web site or download a flyer (PDF 290K) with the details.

Contact Information: ICPSR Human Resources
ATTN: Summer Internship Program 2007
PO Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248
Email: careers@icpsr.umich.edu

2006-10-03

Announcing the Minority Data Resource Center at ICPSR

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is pleased to announce the formal launch of the Minority Data Resource Center (MDRC) Web site.

The mission of MDRC is to provide data resources for the comparative analysis of issues affecting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. We offer streamlined access to existing ICPSR data and to newly acquired studies that are relevant to the study of immigration, place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity, and race in the United States. Access to MDRC data is available to anyone at an ICPSR member university or institution. Many of the studies that comprise the collection have the full product suite of setup and ready-to-files for SAS, SPSS, and Stata, as well as PDF documentation and online analysis capabilities.

MDRC is both a data archive, and a resource for instructors. ICPSR is in the process of developing teaching tools based on the data in the MDRC collection. Others are also invited to develop tools for studies in our collection. MDRC data collections with SDA online analysis are equipped with three additional analysis tools:

Sample Characteristics. This tool allows interested users to assess whether the sample population of a study has the desired demographic characteristics.
Recode Syntax. This tool allows users to not only recode a variable, an option already available through online analysis, but also print out the syntax necessary for that recode so that syntax may be incorporated into users' own statistical syntax files.
Subset. This tool allows users to create data subsets dynamically for selected subpopulations of the survey.

Feel free to try out these new tools in a sample MDRC study:

Capital Punishment in the United States, 1973-2003 (ICPSR 4404)

If you have any questions or wish further information, please contact David Thomas (davethom@umich.edu).

2006-11-16

IASSIST 2007 Call for Papers

The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) is seeking proposals for papers, sessions, panel discussions, poster/demonstration sessions, and workshops on topics that address all aspects of the conference's theme, Building Global Knowledge Communities With Open Data.

The 33rd annual IASSIST conference will take place on May 16-18, 2007, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The conference will be preceded by a day of workshops on May 15 and followed by a weekend of optional activities in the Montreal area. Details about the conference and IASSIST are available.

The conference will focus on the ever increasing globalization of knowledge and the importance of the "open data" concept in the development of knowledge communities. The conference will explore the inter-relationship of knowledge communities with open data. What is required to make data more "open" and available; what are the outcomes from open data; and what is the role of the data community in helping this happen?

With this announcement, we seek proposals for papers, sessions, panel discussions, poster/demonstration sessions and workshops on topics that address all aspects of the conference's theme, including:

open data and the development of knowledge communities
the principles of open data
open data and its implications for documentation, metadata dissemination, preservation, curation and data authentication
new data partnerships in knowledge communities
e-science, cyberinfrastructure and open data
open data and digital repositories
developing trusted data repositories in knowledge communities
open data and issues of confidentiality and disclosure
the development of statistical literacy in knowledge communities
developing an agenda for open data literacy
open spatial data and GIS
open data and the role of the data librarian
life cycle models for managing data in knowledge communities
empirical research results on any of these areas

For other key topics see previous IASSIST Conferences.

The proposal deadline is January 16, 2007.

McGovern coauthors Council on Library and Information Resources Report

Nancy McGovern, ICPSR's Digital Preservation Officer, is a coauthor of a September 2006 Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) report entitled, "E-Journal Archiving Metes and Bounds: A Survey of the Landscape."

This report represents a recent contribution to the literature of the digital preservation community. The recommendations in the report acknowledge that digital preservation is a shared responsibility that requires cooperation between digital archiving programs, like ICPSR, and the producers and users of digital content. Though the report focuses specifically on e-journal archiving, there are implicit links to initiatives at ICPSR, such as the evolution of the Publication-Related Archive (PRA) and the development of comprehensive digital preservation policies. The emphasis in the report on the essential role of producers for digital preservation has implications for DataPASS, ICPSR's collaborative digital preservation research project with funding from the Library of Congress.

You can view the report's abstract online.

2006-10-25

ICPSR Offers On Demand Creation of Setup Files

ICPSR is pleased to announce a new service to create statistical package setup files on demand. We are providing this service to assist users at member schools who want to work with particular studies in the ICPSR holdings that currently lack these setup files. To request setup files for a specific study, please contact netmail@icpsr.umich.edu. Our User Support staff will discuss the request with you and then respond with a rough estimate of how long it will take to deliver the needed files and, if applicable, your place in the queue.

We caution that the estimates are only approximate since the time and effort involved in generating setup files vary greatly from study to study and depend on several factors, including the number of study variables and files and the condition, clarity, and format of the documentation. We produce these setup files solely from the study documentation, independent of the data. Much of the work is manual, with staff entering variable-level information into spreadsheets and then running a program to generate setup files from the spreadsheet contents. The setup files then undergo a series of basic quality control checks.

This service is part of a larger effort to retrofit the ICPSR holdings with these files. Your requests will help us to prioritize that work, which is quite large in scope.

2006-10-16

SAMHDA Disclosure Work Published in Ethics Journal

JoAnne McFarland O'Rourke of ICPSR along with colleagues from the disclosure committee of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) at ICPSR has published an article in the September 2006 issue of the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics (JERHRE). The article is titled, "Solving Problems of Disclosure Risk While Retaining Key Analytic Uses of Publicly Released Microdata." Coauthors are Stephen Roehrig of Carnegie Mellon University, Steven G. Heeringa of the Institute for Social Research's Survey Research Center, Beth Glover Reed and William C. Birdsall of the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, and Margaret Overcashier and Kelly Zidar of ICPSR.

When creating a data protection plan, it is important to strike a balance between human subject protection and data that retain analytic utility, say the authors. They write that the public-use version of the data is very important because it is likely to be the only one to which most researchers, policy analysts, teaching faculty, and students will ever have access. Hence, it is the version from which much of the utility of the data is extracted and often it effectively becomes the historical record of the data collection.

In the article, the authors analyze the disclosure risks and discuss the data protection plans for two national studies and one administrative data system. Taking key uses of each of the data collections into consideration, they employ three distinct disclosure limitation methods to protect respondents while still providing statistically accurate and highly useful public-use data: data swapping, microaggregation, and suppression of detailed geographic data. They describe the characteristics of the data sets that led to the selection of these methods, provide measures of the statistical impact, and give details of their implementation.

They also describe the composition of their disclosure committee, highlight the important disciplines and experience represented by the group, and describe the group process. The authors end by suggesting best practices for data users, principal investigators, and distributors; possible research agendas; and educational implications. The article is available online.

2006-10-16

New ICPSR Council Members

ICPSR is pleased to announce that the ICPSR Council has recently appointed two excellent researchers to fill vacated Council positions for the 2006-2010 term. Please join us in welcoming them to the ICPSR Council.

Matthew Snipp, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, will complete the term of Rodolfo de la Garza. Dr. Snipp is currently working with the Current Population Survey and other Census data that were especially collected using several different variations of a question designed to elicit information about racial identification. He is particularly interested in how factors such as residence, education, and family composition are related to racial identification and especially to questions about multiracial backgrounds, and how this might change under different scenarios of immigration and intermarriage rates. Snipp's past work has shown that there is a great deal of volatility in the reporting of race by persons of American Indian ancestry.

Michael Goodchild, Professor of Geography and the Director of the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will complete the term of Nancy Y. McGovern, who left Council when she took a position with ICPSR. Dr. Goodchild, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2002, has published work on geospatial data, historical geography, and Geographic Information Science (GIS). He has taught several courses and workshops on GIS techniques, and has received numerous grants to investigate GIS research, infrastructure, and priorities from the National Science Foundation and other institutions. His recent work has focused on geospatial data modeling and data quality. Goodchild is currently serving as an advisor on two of NSF's social science committees and as Chair of the Executive Committee for the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis.

2006-10-05

Voting Behavior Teaching Module Wins Prestigious Awards

Voting Behavior: The 2004 Election, an online instructional module authored by political scientists Charles Prysby (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) and Carmine Scavo (East Carolina University) and hosted by ICPSR, received two awards at the 2006 American Political Science Association convention in Philadelphia.

APSA granted Prysby & Scavo most its prestigious instructional award - the 2006 Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science - as well as an award from the Information Technology and Politics section for the Best Instructional Web Site for 2005-06. Both awards recognize the quality and innovation of Prysby & Scavo's online module.

The Voting Behavior module has been continuously developed since 1972, when APSA and ICPSR joined together to develop and distribute a collection of instructional modules that combined pedagogic social science material with subsets of important ICPSR datasets. In 2005, Prsyby & Scavo worked extensively with ICPSR staff to turn the stand-alone module into the first Voting Behavior module that was entirely online.

2006-10-16

ICPSR Welcomes New Consortium Members

ICPSR is pleased to announce that several new institutions have joined the Consortium since July 1, 2006. We extend a sincere welcome to the following new members:

Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY Federation)
Bronx Community College (CUNY Federation)
Chuo University (Japanese National)
Economics Education and Research Consortium (Russia)
Graduate School of Journalism (CUNY Federation)
Hostos Community College (CUNY Federation)
Indiana State University (Indiana Federation)
Kingsborough Community College (CUNY Federation)
LaGuardia College (CUNY Federation)
Lake Forest College (ACM Federation)
Maastricht University (Dutch National)
Medgar Evers College (CUNY Federation)
Meharry Medical College
New York City College of Technology (CUNY Federation)
Norwalk Community College
Queensborough Community College (CUNY Federation)
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Saint Olaf College (ACM Federation)
School of Law (CUNY Federation)
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Yokohama University (Japanese National)
York College (CUNY Federation)

2006-09-18

Feedback Requested on ICPSR Search Engine

The ICPSR Web site features over 6500 study metadata records, and an additional 4000 static Web site documents. As our site holdings are so extensive, we believe that a good search engine is crucial to meeting our users' needs.

We would like feedback from our users on which search features they use on the ICPSR Web site and other sites, so that we can better decide where to focus our efforts as we look at improving our search engine.

Please take a moment to fill out a short survey on searching at ICPSR. The survey contains only 18 questions, 16 of which are multiple choice questions. All responses are anonymous. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

2006-09-27

Nancy McGovern Joins ICPSR as Digital Preservation Officer

Photo of Nancy McGovern ICPSR is pleased to announce that it has hired Nancy McGovern as Digital Preservation Officer, effective September 1, 2006. Nancy has served ably on the ICPSR Council since June 2004, and brought to it her valuable expertise and contacts in the field of digital preservation.

Nancy comes to us from Cornell, where she has served as Digital Preservation Officer at Cornell University Library. She is also coeditor of RLG DigiNews, a bimonthly Web publication that focuses on digitization and preservation.

Over the past 15 years, Nancy has been an active member of the senior management teams at the Center for Electronic Records at the National Archives and the Open Society Archives in Budapest. She is codeveloper of the Digital Preservation Management workshop and tutorial, along with Anne Kenney, and she is involved in OAIS-related international development activities including a task force on Digital Repository Certification and a working group to develop OCLC/RLG Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies.

2006-08-16

Myron Gutmann to Serve a Second Term

Myron P. Gutmann, director of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) since 2001, has accepted a second five-year term. Gutmann is also professor of history at the University of Michigan and research professor in the Population Studies Center of the U-M Institute for Social Research.

"I want to thank Myron for a job well done in his first term, during which he gained the confidence of his ICPSR colleagues and staff and the leadership of ISR," said James S. Jackson, director of the Institute for Social Research. "I am particularly pleased that we have made great progress over the last five years in forging excellent working relations with the ICPSR Council and successfully moving into ISR Perry, which now houses ICPSR and Survey Research Operations. I look forward to continued progress in Myron's second term."

Ruth Peterson, chair of the ICPSR Advisory Council and professor of sociology at Ohio State University, adds, "Council is extremely pleased that Myron will be continuing in his position as executive director of ICPSR. Myron's accomplishments during his first term have been excellent on multiple fronts -- organizationally, with respect to staff development, and most notably in his furtherance of ICPSR's leadership role in data archiving and distribution. Council applauds Myron's energetic leadership and accomplishments, and we are excited about the prospects of working with him over the next five years as ICPSR moves forward in meeting the challenges of providing archival and scientific leadership as the nation's premier social science data resource."

Gutmann said, "During my first term, ICPSR has strengthened its position as the leading institution that archives and shares electronic research materials about society, population, and health, and that trains students and researchers to use them. I am delighted by the possibilities that a second term offers. We will continue our successes, build new partnerships around the world, add major innovations to our world-class technology, and create exciting new ways to teach students of all levels about the quantitative study of social science."

"Our accomplishments," Gutmann continued, "are possible only because of ICPSR's outstanding and professional staff. I look forward to five more years working with them, with the Council, with our members, and with our colleagues at the Institute for Social Research and the University of Michigan."

Gutmann received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976, and served as professor of history and geography and director of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin before coming to Ann Arbor. The author of War and Rural Life in the Early Modern Low Countries (1980), Toward the Modern Economy, Early Industry in Europe 1500-1800 (1988), and more than 60 articles and chapters, he is currently president of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), an advocacy organization supported by more than 100 professional associations, scientific societies, universities, and research institutions. Gutmann has served as chair of the Social Sciences, Nursing, Epidemiology and Methods-3 Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, as well as other national advisory committees and editorial boards.

2006-07-06

Job Posting: Associate Director of ICPSR

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) seeks to appoint an Associate Director to participate in the Consortium's leadership and to manage its collection development activities. The individual selected for this position will hold a research faculty appointment in ICPSR and the Institute for Social Research at the level of Research Associate Professor or Research Professor. The selected candidate's qualifications will determine the level. The selected individual will report to the Director of ICPSR. The position is likely to be a joint appointment with the Population Studies Center or Survey Research Center, two other units within the Institute for Social Research. A joint appointment with another unit of the University of Michigan is also possible. ICPSR offers a competitive total compensation package, with full access to University of Michigan benefits.

A full description of the position (PDF 73K), including requirements, is available and can also be found on the University of Michigan Job site.

Applicants should submit a letter of application, a CV, three letters of reference, and relevant writing samples to:

Myron P. Gutmann
Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Professor of History
The University of Michigan
PO Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

Screening of applications will begin shortly and continue until the position is filled. The University of Michigan is a Non-Discriminatory Affirmative Action Employer.

2006-02-10

ICPSR Revises Privacy Policy and MyData Account Creation

On 2006-05-03, ICPSR made changes to its privacy policy and to the MyData account fields. This announcement is being posted to inform you of the changes, and to request that you take a moment to update your MyData account information.

We've changed the department field to a drop-down menu, and made the download selections match the choices you see on the actual download page.

The only substantive change we've made to either of these documents is that our users no longer have the option to refuse email contact from ICPSR. If you download data from ICPSR, we reserve the right to contact you via email.

We have made this change for two reasons:

1) We need to be able to inform our users when we've made changes to our policies (like this one) or when our access system has changed substantively.

2) We need to send out annual or biannual requests that our users update their MyData account information.

In the event that receiving email from ICPSR a few times a years is completely unacceptable to you, you now have the option of deleting your MyData account altogether.

If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to contact us at web-support@icpsr.umich.edu.

2006-05-03

DSDR Restricted Data Contract Web Modules

Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) announces a new tool for data producers interested in providing data under restricted release terms. We have developed a series of Web modules that help data producers develop contracts to stipulate conditions under which restricted data are disseminated and administered. This resource tool provides suggestions on what producers could include in a restricted data contract. In addition, we provide

Sample text to help data producers identify the type of requirements to include in a contract
Text addressing issues common to restricted data contracts
An outline of the administrative process of setting up and monitoring restricted-use contracts.

For each contract section, the example text is classified into three levels--Highly Restrictive, Moderately Restrictive, and Least Restrictive--reflecting the stringency of and the number of restrictions on release of the data.

We also provide sample contracts from several key demographic research projects:

National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)
Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.Fans)
Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS)
China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)

The DSDR Restricted Data Contract Web Resource is designed as a heuristic tool to help data producers define the sensitive nature of their restricted data and inform the development of guidelines, contracts, and processes under which their data can be made available for use by interested researchers. For further information, please contact Russel Hathaway at rhataway@umich.edu or 734.615.4949. Additional information can be found on the DSDR Web site.

2006-05-03

New Institutions Join ICPSR

ICPSR is pleased to announce that several new institutions have joined the Consortium since January 1, 2006. We extend a sincere welcome to the following new members:

Peking University
Texas A&M International University
University of Hawaii at Hilo
University of Texas at San Antonio

2006-04-24

Announcing the ICPSR Data Enclave

ICPSR is pleased to announce the opening of its Secure Data Enclave. Located at ICPSR's home office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Enclave is a secure non-networked environment in which data analyses can be conducted on restricted data not available through other means. You can find out more information about the Enclave, including Frequently Asked Questions, on our Web site.

To inquire about using the Enclave services, please contact ICPSR User Support at netmail@icpsr.umich.edu.

2006-03-14

Job Posting: Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) - ICPSR

Job Duties:

Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis course in the ICPSR Summer Program. Meet with students in individual and small group settings to tutor on basic statistics. Grade assignments and exams.

Minimal Qualifications:

Masters Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience with quantitative research skills in the social sciences or closely related field. Experience with SPSS. Excellent communications skills, both oral and written, in the English language. Good interpersonal skills. Past experience, within the last 2 years, of TAing a formal statistics course at the University. Knowledge and command of: probability, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, tests of significance, inference, Chi-square, contingency tables, ANOVA, multiple regression, correlation, residuals, multicollinearity, diagnostics, model specification, interaction terms, non-linear relationships.

Desired Qualifications: Past teaching experience with a graduate level statistics course. Experience teaching statistics in a multicultural environment.

Fraction of Time: 25-20 hours per week

Reporting: This position will report to the Director of the ICPSR Summer Program and the course instructors.

Assignment Date: Summer term, June 26 to August 18, 8 week period.

Salary Range: $20 Hour

If you would like to apply for this position please fax your resume to ICPSR Human Resources attention Ann Jastrzembowski at 734-936-5613 or email annj@icpsr.umich.edu or mail to P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

2006-05-08

ICPSR Summer Workshop on Child Development

ICPSR and its Child Care and Early Education Research Connections project would like to announce a new workshop being offered as part of the 2006 Summer Program. The workshop will feature data that can be used to analyze the development of young children. There is no fee for the workshop and stipends are available to defray travel costs. Please share this course announcement with your campus community. In particular, faculty and graduate students in the following areas might find the course of particular interest: early education, child development, family studies, sociology, social work, psychology and pediatrics.

Understanding the Development of Young Children from an Ecological Perspective

The Child Care and Early Education Research Connections project is offering a four-day workshop, Understanding the Development of Young Children from an Ecological Perspective, to be held August 1-4, 2006 in Ann Arbor, MI as part of the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. This workshop is sponsored by Research Connections, with support from the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is designed as an introduction to key datasets that can be used to analyze the development of young children in multiple contexts and to assess the impact of early experiences on child outcomes. The workshop will feature the following four datasets:

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)
Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSRE)
Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES)
National Center for Educational Development and Learning Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, 2001-2003

Enrollment in this workshop is limited. Admitted graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, and junior faculty/researchers will also be considered for one of a limited number of monetary awards to help offset travel expenses. Applications are due by Wednesday, May 31, 2006. Additional questions may be directed to contact@childcareresearch.org.

2006-05-08

IASSIST 2006 Online Registration Closes May 8

Online registration for the IASSIST 2006 conference closes at 5 pm PST on Monday, May 8. The conference will take place on May 23-26, 2006, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the University of Michigan campus.

This will be the 32^nd annual conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST). Participants will present papers, poster/demonstration sessions, and panel sessions on topics that address the full range of digital data life cycle issues, including access, documentation, dissemination, preservation, data use, and current empirical research activity. Additional topics will include information and statistical literacy, statistical disclosure, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data, as well as publication, annotation, curation, and authentication of networked knowledge assets.

The conference will be preceded by workshops on Tuesday, May 23, and followed by optional weekend activities in the Ann Arbor area. Details about the conference and the association may be found on the IASSIST Web site.

2006-04-25

Register for IASSIST 2006 by April 21 for Reduced Rates

Early egistration to receive discounted rates for the IASSIST 2006 conference, Data in a World of Networked Knowledge, will close at 5 pm Pacific Standard Time on Friday, April 21. Online registration for the conference closes at 5 pm PST on Monday, May 8.

The conference will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the University of Michigan campus, on May 23-26, 2006.

This will be the 32nd annual conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST). Participants will present papers, poster/demonstration sessions, and panel sessions on topics that address the full range of digital data life cycle issues, including access, documentation, dissemination, preservation, data use, and current empirical research activity. Additional topics will include information and statistical literacy, statistical disclosure, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data, as well as publication, annotation, curation, and authentication of networked knowledge assets.

2006-04-12

Summer Program 2006 Registration Now Live

Registration is now open for the 2006 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. The Summer Program Web site now contains a complete update for 2006, including a new time schedule, course descriptions, and other relevant information for those contemplating attending one or more of our Summer Program workshops.

2006-02-15

Register Now for IASSIST 2006

Online registration for the IASSIST 2006 conference, Data in a World of Networked Knowledge, is now open. The conference will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the University of Michigan campus, on May 23-26, 2006.

2006-02-13

ICPSR Summer Internship Program

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the world's largest archive of digital social science data, is now accepting applications for its annual summer internship program. ICPSR is a unit within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. ICPSR's data are the foundation for thousands of research articles, reports, and books. Findings from these data are put to use by scholars, policy analysts, policy makers, the media, and the public. ICPSR's holdings span many substantive areas, such as sociology, political science, demography, history, economics, gerontology, public health, criminal justice, substance abuse and mental health, education, health and medical care, and international relations.

Program Structure

The Intern will work in a UNIX environment and gain experience using statistical programs such as SAS and SPSS to check data. Data processing skills will be applied to prepare social science data for permanent archiving and distribution for secondary analysis; preserving respondent anonymity; and composing descriptions of data collections. These positions are supervised by an experienced Research Associate. The intern will attend courses in the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research.

Qualifications

Undergraduate completion of sophomore year in a social science major. Typical social science majors include: history, psychology, sociology, economics, political science, public policy, anthropology, geography, and criminal justice.
Strong academic credentials
Knowledge of a statistical software package such as SPSS, SAS, or Stata
Previous relevant social science research experience via work or class project
Demonstrated leadership, problem solving, and strong verbal and written communication skills
Ability to prioritize tasks, to work on multiple assignments, and to manage ambiguity
Ability to work both independently and as part of a team with professionals at all levels

Timeframe

The internship program will last 10 weeks from June 12, 2006 to August 18, 2006.

Compensation

$3,000 stipend, room & board, and tuition for all coursework available through the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research.

Application Procedure

Interested individuals should submit a cover letter of interest, resume, a writing sample, and two letters of recommendation to ICPSR Human Resources, Attn: Summer Internship Program, P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248 or send to careers@icpsr.umich.edu.

Application Deadline: February 24, 2006

2006-01-26

IASSIST Conference To Be Held in Ann Arbor on May 22-26, 2006

The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) will hold its 32nd annual conference entitled Data in a World of Networked Knowledge on May 22-26, 2006, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 2006 conference theme, Data in a World of Networked Knowledge, highlights the role of empirical data in a society that wishes not only to know itself, but also to build an enduring, interconnected storehouse of knowledge for learning and research. Once again IASSIST offers a time and place to explore, enlighten, and energize the participation of data professionals in the networked information world.

Participants will present papers, poster/demonstration sessions, and panel sessions on topics that address the full range of digital data life cycle issues, including those that focus on access, documentation, dissemination, preservation, data use, and current empirical research activity. Additional topics may also include information and statistical literacy, data confidentiality and statistical disclosure, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial data, as well as publication, annotation, curation and authentication of networked knowledge assets.

The conference will be preceded by workshops and followed by optional weekend activities in the Ann Arbor area. Details about the conference and the association may be found on the IASSIST Web site. For other key topics, see previous IASSIST Conferences.

2006-01-17

New Institutions Join ICPSR

ICPSR is pleased to announce that several new institutions have joined the Consortium since October 1, 2005. We extend a sincere welcome to the following new members:

Auburn University at Montgomery
California State University at Channel Islands (California State Federation)
Cornell College (ACM Federation)
Mount Saint Mary's College (SCELC Federation)
NIDI -- Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (Dutch National)
Pepperdine University (SCELC Federation)
University of Denver
University of Innsbruck (Austrian National)
University of Texas at El Paso

2006-01-10

New Council Members Elected

ICPSR is pleased to announce the election by its membership of a new slate of ICPSR Council members, who will serve four-year terms beginning in March 2006. The election, which took place November 1-December 31, 2005, was conducted electronically, with a 34.3 percent participation rate.

The new members of Council include:

Rodolfo de la Garza, Political Science, Columbia University
Michael R. Haines, Economics, Colgate University
Kathleen Mullan Harris, Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Aletha C. Huston, Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas
Nancy Y. McGovern, Digital Preservation, Cornell University
Samuel L. Myers Jr., Hubert Humphrey School, University of Minnesota

Ruth Peterson, Ohio State University, was elected Chair of the 2006-2008 Council. Mark Hayward, University of Texas, will serve as Past Chair for one year.

Continuing Council members, who will serve for two more years, include Darren W. Davis, Michigan State University; Charles H. Franklin, University of Wisconsin; Paula Lackie, Carleton College; James Oberly, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire; and Walter Piovesan, Simon Fraser University.

Outgoing Council members are Ilona Einowski, University of California, Berkeley; John Handy, Morehouse College; and Ronald Rindfuss, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Note that Nancy McGovern and Samuel Myers, who were completing terms of others on the previous Council cycle, have agreed to serve an additional term and were elected.

ICPSR thanks the outgoing Council members for their years of service, and warmly welcomes the incoming members. Biographical sketches of the 2004-2006 members of Council are available at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/org/governance/council.html.

Biographical sketches of the 2006-2008 members of Council are available at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/org/governance/council-new.html.

2006-01-04

Web Site Down: Weds., Feb. 1, 2006

The ICPSR Web site and topical archive Web sites will be inaccessible tonight from 8:00pm to 11:00pm EST, while we make updates to our Web hardware/software. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

2006-02-01

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