Data Use Tutorial

What You Will Get From the TPDRC Archive

Most of the datasets in the TPDRC archive are raw data from surveys, censuses, and administrative records. They were originally gathered in research projects and for administrative purposes. ICPSR preserves them because they have value for "secondary analysis" - that is, reexamining old data to address new questions or to employ new analytic methods.

You will not get reports, charts, publications, or other studies from TPDRC. Rather, you will get raw numerical data which can be analyzed. Some datasets have been used in published studies. You can see a bibliography of these studies by clicking on the "view related literature" link on each study's home page.

Finding the Data You Need

Use the Search Box if you know exactly what you want. For example, enter a survey title or the name of a principal investigator in the search box. We also offer several browse options, including:

Terminology

In your searching you may encounter unfamiliar acronyms and specialized terms used in the social sciences. These resources can provide clear definitions:

• Glossary of Social Science Terms
• Index of Frequently Used Acronyms (link to ICPSR)
• Social Sciences Research and Instructional Glossary

Obtaining Access to the Data

Documentation

All of the documentation files associated with ICPSR datasets are available to the general public. This documentation includes the study metadata--that is, the data describing the study. However, not all of the datasets themselves are freely available.

Restricted Data

Some datasets are protected because there is a risk that the identity of research participants could be disclosed. These datasets are released with special protections. Datasets in which the level of disclosure risk is especially high can be examined only in a special data enclave in the ICPSR office in Ann Arbor.

If you find a dataset with restricted access, you will see an Access Note about this on the study home page:

example of a study with a restricted access note

Downloading Data

When you find a study that you wish to download, you will see a variety of download links on the study home page:

• "Quick Download" button that provides multiple options on mouse hover
• Download documentation files (login not required)
• Download select files (traditional download page)
• Download all files (file size)

Before downloading the data, you may want to do two things to assure that the study meets your needs.

• Click on the "View study description" link and carefully review the description of the study. This may include important information about file formats and other unique characteristics of the data.

• Click on the "Browse documentation files" link and view the documentation files, including the codebook.

When you are ready to download, click on the "Download > select formats/datasets" link (or "Download > all files"). You will see a table displaying the datasets as rows (for studies that have more than one dataset) and format options as columns. Also note the two tabs atop the table, that allow you to choose between system files and ASCII files.

example of a data download page

Note that in downloading data from TPDRC, you signify that you agree not to share the data with anyone not authorized by ICPSR to receive it. You further agree to the terms of use.

Analyzing Data

Using the downloaded data requires some basic knowledge of statistical analysis techniques and some familiarity with statistical analysis software packages. We provide help for specific analysis packages and data analysis issues.