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

[email protected]