Post on 17-Nov-2014
description
Using Quantitative Data in Teaching: ICPSR Resources
Linda M. Detterman & Lynette F. Hoelter University of Michigan
AABSS Annual Meeting February 4-5, 2010
Overview of the Presentation
• Advantages of data in the classroom• Brief introduction to ICPSR• Tools available at ICPSR
– Specifically for the classroom– Research and teaching
• Social Science Variables Database• Datasets by topic• Data formats• Downloading data
• Opportunities for students
Why Bother with Data?
• Including research/data analysis– Piques student interest– Engages students with the discipline
more fully • prevents some of the feeling of
“disconnect” between substantive and technical courses
– Fosters quantitative literacy skills
Potential Obstacles
• Large classes• Finding appropriate data and
creating exercises• Examples that don’t “work” in class• Student access to/knowledge of
statistical software
ICPSR can help!!
What is ICPSR?
• One of the world’s oldest and largest social science data archives– Established in 1962 (as ICPR) so that social scientists could
share data
• Data distributed on punch cards, then magnetic reel-to-reel tape, and now: – Data available instantaneously– Over 7,700 studies with over 64,000 data sets
• Membership organization that started as a partnership among 21 universities, now:– Currently over 700 members world-wide– Federal funding allows parts of the collection to be available to
all
About the Data• ICPSR archives both U.S. and international
data• Data Sources:
– Government (census, government organizations)
– Large data collection efforts (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Panel Study of Income Dynamics)
– Polls (ABC and CBS news polls, voter polls)
– Principle Investigators (Chitwan Valley Family Study, Marital Instability Over the Life Course)
– Data repurposed (Integrated Fertility Survey Series, Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys)
– Other organizations (NCAA)
7
ICPSR’s Attention to Undergrad Education
• Fairly recent– Response to faculty– Undergrad users are fastest growing
segment
• NSF funded projects– TeachingWithData.org (NSDL)– Course, Curriculum, & Laboratory
Improvement– Under review: REU proposal for internship
Teaching Tools
• Exploring Data Through Research Literature (EDRL)
• Investigating Community and Social Capital (ICSC)
• Supplementary Empirical Teaching Units in Political Science (SETUPS2008)
• Online Learning Center (OLC)• TeachingWithData.org
Exploring Data Through Research Literature
Investigating Community and Social Capital
SETUPS 2008
Online Learning Center
Frequency Distribution
Cells contain:-Column percent-Weighted N
INCOME
1LESS THAN $24,000
2$24,000-$49,999
3$50,000-$99,999
4MORE THAN $100,000
ROWTOTAL
YEARGAMB
0: Didn't gamble in past year
32.415,759,745
25.113,001,616
19.68,868,472
24.54,030,466
25.741,660,300
1: Gambled in past year
67.632,885,485
74.938,713,040
80.436,491,643
75.512,402,378
74.3120,492,546
COL TOTAL100.0
48,645,230100.0
51,714,657100.0
45,360,115100.0
16,432,844100.0
162,152,846
TeachingWithData.org
Research and Teaching
• Bibliography of Related Literature• Topical archives• Social Science Variables Database• Online analysis package (SDA)• Other file formats (SPSS, SAS, Stata)• Finding and downloading data
Data by Topic
• Many archives, including:– Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive
(SAMHDA)*– National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)*– National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA)*– National Archive of the Drug Abuse and HIV Data Program*– Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR)*– Resource Center for Minority Data (RCMD)– International Data Resource Center (IDRC)– NCAA– General Archive
*These archives are federally funded
Thematic Collections/ Specialty Archives
Social Science Variables Database
Online Analysis Software
(Other) File Formats
Finding & Downloading Data
Student Opportunities
•Summer internship program•Student paper competitions•Undergraduate•Master’s•RCMD
For More Information:
Lynette Hoelter Instructional Resources & Development
lhoelter@umich.edu