Help
RCMD User Support
Knowledge Base (FAQs)
- How does ICPSR handle access to its data and members-only content?
- How do I know if I am an ICPSR member?
- How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?
- How can my organization become a member of ICPSR?
- Can I have a trial ICPSR membership for my institution? What about a personal membership?
- What do I do if I'm having trouble logging in with my MyData Account? What about changing my email address or password?
- I'm trying to download data, but I'm not getting any data files. Why can't I download data?
- How can I get the non-restricted version of a restricted dataset?
- The dataset I wish to analyze is restricted. What do I have to do to get the data?
- What is a proxy server? Why am I getting an odd message about proxy servers when I log in?
- Why am I being asked to enter a MyData password when I try to login via Google?
- What kind of data formats does the archive distribute? Do you have SPSS Portable files? SAS transport? Stata?
- What are setup files? How do I use them?
- There are no setup files available for my dataset. How do I create a setup file?
- Can I use Excel to analyze the data?
- What is R? How do I use it?
- How can I use your data with GIS software, such as ArcView or MapInfo?
- How can I use your data if I don't have access to SAS, SPSS, or Stata?
- Why can't I open the Stata files from the ICPSR website?
Contact User Support
Many questions can be answered by our video tutorials, or via the FAQs above. In the event that these do not answer your question, our user support staff are available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., ET, Monday to Friday.
Phone: 734-647-2200
ICPSR-help@umich.edu
Our goal is to respond to inquiries on the same day they are received.
Terminology
You may encounter unfamiliar acronyms and specialized terms used in the social sciences. These resources can provide clear definitions:
Video Presentations
ICPSR has a number of video presentations on YouTube that address a variety of topics, including step by step instructions on using and troubleshooting set-up files and creating a MyData account, learning about some of the archives housed at ICPSR, and using ICPSR resources in your classroom, such as Inquiry-Based Learning.
Need a study converted to a different format?
You can contact ICPSR User Support to inquire about the possibility of ICPSR creating setup files for the study. If it is determined that ICPSR cannot create them or cannot create them within your time frame, then you are advised to seek assistance from someone on your campus with experience in the statistical package that you have chosen to use.
Alternately, we may be able to provide assistance in converting one of our studies into a statistical format other than the one in which it is offered. Generally, ICPSR offers data in SAS, Stata, and SPSS statistical packages but if one of those formats is not available for a specific study, we can convert any of these formats into any other. However, we do not typically provide data in analysis-ready formats when a setup file for the required format is offered. We offer tutorials on using setup files in all statistical packages on our YouTube Channel.