Whither or wither?

Tracking and Sharing Survey Data: Findings from the Field

E. HamiltonUNB LibrariesAccoleds 2003

Recap: NPHS Project Background

DLI training exercise on deconstruction

Congruence of appearance of NPHS cycle 1 and launch of Data Liberation Initiative

Growing concern about production of public use microdata files

Project design

Determine evidence of data use and knowledge transfer relating to the NPHS using standard bibliographic techniques with peer-reviewed databases as well as grey literature searching techniques

Research Findings

Addiction; Adolescence; Age and Ageing; American Journal of Epidemiology; American Journal of Gastroenterology; American Journal of Public Health; Annals of Epidemiology; Arthritis and Rheumatism; British Journal of Clinical Governance; Bulletin of the International Statistics Institute; Bulletin of the World Health Organization; Canadian Family Physician; Canadian Geographer; Canadian Journal of Cardiology; Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality; Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy; Canadian Journal of Psychiatry; Canadian Journal of Public Health; Canadian Journal on Aging; Canadian Medical Association Journal; Canadian Nurse; Canadian Psychology; Canadian Public Policy; Canadian Social Trends; Canadian Studies in Population; Chest; Chronic Diseases in Canada; CPA Bulletin; Daedalus; Depression & Anxiety; Diabetes Care; Diabetologia; Disability and Rehabilitation; Disease Management & Health Outcomes; Environmental Research; Epidemiology; Ethnicity & Health; European Respiratory Journal; GeoJournal; Geriatric Nursing; Gerontologist; Health Affairs; Health & Place; Health Policy; Health Reports; Hospital Quarterly; International Journal of Epidemiology; International Journal of Health Services;

• Broad dissemination of research across many disciplines

Research Findings

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50

100

150

200

250

Cross-sectional

Longitudinal Share/linked Both

PUMFs received greatest use in file types identified

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50

100

150

200

250

300

Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3

Cycle 1-3

Cycle 3

Cycle 2

Cycle 1

Cycle 1 remains file with most research use*

* Still being cited in 2003

Research Findings

NPHS Masters

NPHS PhD

38 Theses/Dissertations!

43

The Question:

Is there a relationship between dissemination practices and

evidence of research outcomes?

Continuum of Access to Statistics Canada Products

 Service

Statistics Canada Website

Depository Service Program

Data Liberation Initiative

Sales & Customized Tabulations

Remote Job

Submission

Research Data

Centres

Partner Contracts

 Who is eligible

General public

 General public through DSP libraries

Post-secondary academic staff & students

Individuals or organizations

Researchers with accepted proposals

Approved researchers

Ministerial approval

 Conditions

 Available on the Internet at www.statcan.ca

 Available on site

Restricted to teaching and research purposes

Contractual; standard fees usually apply

Arrangement between STC & researcher; fee charged

SSHRC peer review & deemed STC employee status

Stringent conditions for authorized use & users only

 Products

- The Daily - Canadian Statistics- Census- Community profiles- Downloadable publications

- Paper publications- Electronic publications & select CDs

Standard data products: aggregate databases, public use microdata files, and geography files

Standard data products; custom tables that have been processed by STC;access to specialized databases

Analytic syntax built by researcher using synthetic files, and STC processing

Confidential data files from longitudinal surveys begun in the 1990’s, such as the NPHS, SLID, NLSCY

Linked or share file depending applicant affiliation & purpose of data use

 Notes

Warning: some services on the web site are fee-based

Some DSP libraries provide off-site access to authenticated users

Interface to CANSIM I and Trade Analyzer available through CHASS (University of Toronto)

Specialized databases include CANSIM II and the Trade Analyzer

Available for only select surveys; this service most developed for the NPHS

Applications can be submitted through the RDC/SSHRC web site

Risk levels promote vigilence in use

Model for NPHS Dissemination

The Answer?

> 600 Items identified 213 Primary authors 297 Articles discovered 118 Periodicals listed 121 Presentations 59 Grants identified 43 Theses/dissertations 78 Reports

Evidence from NPHS research outcomes study shows “best practice” data dissemination strategies result in a wide range of knowledge transfer.

Next Step: Share Expertise DLI contacts familiar with faculty and

student use of data and are conversant with searching strategies

Much can be learned about data dissemination for other data sets, both new and older ones.

Divisions and producers interested in tracking their surveys (e.g. EDS, CIHI)

EAC approved a research paper series to provide vehicle for sharing knowledge

Research paper series

Research/analytical reports relating to STC secondary data use in teaching, research and provision of data services

Primary research, sometimes research in progress, covering diverse topics such as:

data training and education techniques/programs

evidence of secondary data in KT activities

secondary data archiving and preservation issues

bibliographies and literatures reviews

Whither, not wither!

Like grapes on the vine, raw data are not appreciated until they are picked, amassed, shared, tested, treated, subjected to both rigour and experimentation, touched by the hand of student and master alike—and sometimes, by the flukes of weather.

The product is worth the effort.

For more information…

Hamilton@unb.ca

or

Neilson@unb.ca