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Sociology

This guide is to support the research needs of students of Sociology.

Learning to Deal With Data

Datasets

Good research can fail if based on bad data. Bad data suffers from quality issues such as inaccuracy, incompleteness, inconsistencies, typos, and duplication.

Factors to Consider When Evaluating Data

Source

  • Who collected it?
  • Was it an individual or organization or agency? 
  • The data source and the reporter or citer are not always the same. For example, advocacy organizations often publish data that were produced by some other organization. When feasible, it is best to go to the original source (or at least know and evaluate the source).
  • If the data are repackaged, is there proper documentation to lead you to the primary source? Would it be useful to get more information from the primary source? Could there be anything missing from the secondary version?

Authority

  • How widely known or cited is the producer? Who else uses these data?
  • Is the measure or producer contested?
  • What are the credentials of the data producer?
  • If an individual, are they an expert on the subject?
  • If an individual, what organizations are they associated with? Could that association affect the work?

Objectivity & Purpose

  • Who sponsored the production of these data?
  • What was the purpose of the collection/study?
  • Who was the intended audience for or users of the data?
  • Was it collected as part of the mission of an organization? Or for advocacy? Or for business purposes?

Currency

  • When were the data collected? Not always close to when they were released or published -- there is often a time lag between collection and reporting because of the time required to analyze the data.
  • Are these the newest figures? Sometimes the newest available figures are a few years old. That is okay, as long as you can verify that there isn't something newer.

Collection Methods & Completeness

  • How are the data collected? Count, measurement or estimation?
  • Even a reputable source and collection method can introduce bias. For example, crime data come from many sources, from victim reports to arrest records.
  • If a survey, what was the total population -- how does that compare to the size of the population it is supposed to represent?
  • If a survey, what methods used to select the population included, how was the total population sampled?
  • If a survey, what was the response rate?
  • What populations included? Excluded?

Consistency & Verification

  • Do other sources provide similar numbers?
  • Can the numbers be verified?

-From Data, Datasets, and Statistical Resources, Carlton College Gould Library

Virginia Specific Data

National Data

International Data

Many countries have open access portals for data from their governments.

*For websites in other languages, if you use the Chrome browser, it will offer you the option to translate the page to English.

ICPSR - Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research I Education

ICPSR is an international consortium of more than 810 academic institutions and research organizations. ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community.

ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 350,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 23 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields, making it an excellent source for data sets.

Learn more at About ICPSR.

 

ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 350,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. The majority of the data holdings are available for public use. However, some data sets are restricted-use. ICPSR defines restricted-use data as data "in cases when removing potentially identifying information would significantly impair the analytic potential of the data, or in cases where data contain highly sensitive personal information and cannot be shared as a public-use file." Learn more here about the requirements for accessing Restricted Data at ICPSR.

You can search for data from the home page by using the search bar located front and center on the homepage. Type in your key words and click the search button.

 

You can also use the Find Data tab and focus on Search/Compare Variables, Data-Related Publications, or Data Collections & Projects

 

Search/Compare Variables using the Social Science Variables Database (SSVD). The SSVD allows for the identification and comparison of variables (e.g. questions, fields, items) across studies. Searches return variables for which the search term is present in the variable name or label, question text (when present), and value labels. Each entry contains a link back to the study from which the variable is drawn. 

Data-Related Publications allow you to search for academic literature associated with the data held in ICPSR. All the citations you see in those search results are pulled directly from the ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature database. Searching the Bibliography is like searching a library database, but here you will not only find publications on the topic that interests you (with links to full text where available), you’ll also find citations linked to the data used in the work. 

Data Collections and Projects are websites created in partnership with various federal statistical agencies and foundations. And offers specialized collections of data in health, population health, education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, and other fields. The Projects at ICPSR are often collaborative efforts involving researchers, institutions, and organizations worldwide, contributing to the richness and diversity of the data collection. Here, they highlight some of their current projects in data stewardship and social science research, and the people behind this important work.

Whether you start your search from the Home Page or from the Find Data page, your results page will have various filters available for you narrow or focus your results. To the left of the results are the "Filters" this is a long list of variables to choose from. Those with a warning icon ⚠ are still in Beta testing and may not represent all of the options available.

  • Subject Terms
  • Geography
  • Restriction Type (Public or Restricted Use - filter for "Public Use" for immediate access to data)
  • Data Format (File format such as SPSS, SAS, Stata, R, etc. . .)
  • Collection Method (Survey, event, clinical, observation, text, video, etc. . .)
  • Data Type (Quantitative, qualitative, GIS)
  • Time Method (Cross-sectional, longitudinal, time series, etc. . .)
  • Time Period (You can specify the years searched)
  • Recent Releases
  • Funding Agency
  • Thematic Collection
  • Data Availability (Public data or Member-funded data)
  • Classifs (Classifers) 
  • Investigator
  • Mode of Data Collection (Web-based survey, mail questionnaire, telephone interview, etc. . .)
  • Object Type
  • Archive
  • Investigator Affiliation
  • Series

Above the results are several tabs with type options related to your search:

  • Studies - Full data 
  • Variables - narrows results to each unit of analysis or each item of data
  • Series - includes multiple studies preformed over time
  • Data-related Publications - associated academic literature
  • ICPSR Website - news, events, FAQs, and general content from the website

 

 

If you are interested in depositing your data with ICPSR you can start this process by clicking the Depositing Data button located below the main search bar on the homepage. They will walk you through the types of data publishing available, the overall process, and expected timeline.

 

You can also access these sections via the Share & Manage Data dropdown menu located near the top of your screen.

Share & Manage Data Overview explains the importance of sharing data, how to share, and the benefits of sharing with ICPSR.

Preparing for Deposit walks through how to organize and prepare your files, deidentifying sensitive data, using metadata, adding a list of publications, and other items.

Data Management Plans & Grant Support - Data management plans ensure that data are properly managed and may include information about the types and amounts of data to be collected, storage and sharing methods, safeguards to protect research participants, how data will be made accessible, and who can access them. ICPSR offers tools and resources to help you manage your plan, register your proposed study, and budget for archiving your data.

Support & Resources provides tools, templates, and guides for best practices in sharing data.

 

Teach with Data

ICPSR offers tips for creating data assignments from scratch as well as pre-made exercises you can add to your course.

You can access this page through the Teaching & Learning dropdown menu. Select Teach With Data.

Build Your Data Skills

Also in the Teaching & Learning dropdown menu you can find Build Your Data Skills. This page lists resources to aid those with little background working with data. They help with various stages in the research process from reading about research someone else has conducted to handling your own data, running analyses, and writing up the results.

 

It includes

  • How to find a dataset
    • This guide outlines a five-step process to help students and researchers identify and evaluate datasets for assignments or projects. It emphasizes defining a topic, listing data requirements, where and how to search for datasets, assessing datasets against those requirements, and finalizing the research question based on available data.
  • Choosing data to meet your needs worksheet
    • This worksheet can assist students with identifying the key features of data needed to complete an assignment or answer a research question. It highlights different characteristics based on whether the focus is completing a statistics or data science assignment or beginning a research project.
  • Choosing the right statistical test
    • If you have questions and the data to address them but aren’t sure where to go from there, this guide can help. Find the type of question you want to answer – for example, “how many” or “are these two things related” – in the first column to see the recommended statistical analysis. The data requirements for each test are included.
  • Interpreting SPSS statistical results (pdf)
    • Example output for statistical tests typically covered in an introductory course with detailed explanations of what each part of the output means. Frequency distributions, crosstabulations, comparisons of means, correlations, and OLS regressions are covered.
  • Computer-aided text analysis basics (pdf)
    • A quick overview of using computers to analyze big chunks of text, which we call computer-aided text analysis (CATA). We provide links to additional information and resources that you can use to further develop your knowledge and get started with basic analyses.
  • How to cite data correctly
    • Citing data is as important as citing literature used in a paper. This is a discussion of why it is important and how to properly cite data.
  • Preparing and archiving your data (guide for Social Science data)
    • Document and manage your data with best practices from the start of your project to the finish.
  • How to read a journal article
    • Tips and tricks to make reading and understanding social science journal articles easier by focusing on key components: understanding the research question, methods, findings, and conclusions. This resource offers strategies to critically assess the article’s validity, relevance, and impact on the field.

NSU has an institutional membership to ICPSR. As an individual, you can create a Research Passport. A Researcher Passport, allows you to download data, upload data, or view account stats. Learn how to set up or transfer your account.

The easiest way to create an account is using your NSU email. Click the Log In button located in the upper right of your screen.

At the bottom of the log in selections click on Create an account

Enter the information required and click Next. 

You will receive an email with a Verify email address button. Click that button and your account will be ready to go!

The next time you log on - be sure to use the Sign in with email button.

You can access your dashboard by clicking on the My Account dropdown menu located in the upper right of your screen and selecting My Dashboard.

From My Dashboard you can navigate to information about their Summer Program, sign up for email updates, check on or create data deposits, request restricted data, or get help.

The ICPSR Help page offers resources for both Students and Instructors. The Help button is located in the upper right of your webpage. Or in the hamburger menu, depending on the size of your screen.

The Help & User Guide offers

  • Common Questions
  • Browse Help Topics by Role
  • Browse All Help Topics by Category

They also offer