DSDR, A Population Health Data Archive

Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) archives data with external validity that can be generalized to populations. DSDR advances research in population dynamics and allied fields by providing access to data that can be used to study critical issues related to maternal and child health as well as other areas of public health including the human lifecycle. By engaging the demographic community and colleagues from multiple related disciplines with important data sources, DSDR encourages research that both contributes to fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and applies that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The Population Dynamics Branch (PDB) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funds DSDR (R24HD048404). DSDR is housed within the ICPSR, the world’s largest social science data archive, and is part of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR).

Our Mission

DSDR enhances the impact of NICHD-funded research within the scientific mission of the NICHD-Population Dynamics Branch by providing a platform through which researchers can discover, access, and analyze secondary data. DSDR preserves data and documentation from the field’s most important studies that will endure for generations.

DSDR carries out this mission by:

• Sustaining and building the collection of data, documentation, and other support files.
• Improving discoverability and exploration of data.
• Amplifying access to restricted-use data.
• Enabling the combining of new types of data (e.g., biomarkers, neuroimages, and administrative records) with survey data.
• Offering training and performing outreach to engage the demographic community.