British Columbia Interuniversity Research Data
Centre – Sociology 502
October 24, 2003
Access to
Statistics Canada data
• Public use cross-sectional microdata files are
available through the UBC Data Services website
http://data.library.ubc.ca. Offers easy access to less
detailed cross-sectional data.
• Mary Luebbe is the Data Services librarian at
mluebbe@interchange.ubc.ca.
• Detailed longitudinal and cross-sectional microdata
are available at the Research Data Centre
• Census, CANSIM and E-Stat offer extensive
aggregate data series accessible through
http://data.library.ubc.ca and http://www.statcan.ca.
Canadian Initiative on Social
Statistics
The CISS is a joint initiative of Statistics
Canada and SSHRC with two main
components:
• Research Data Centres Program
• Data Training Schools Program
What is a Research Data Centre?
 Houses detailed confidential microdata and
documentation files from Statistics Canada
 Computer laboratory with an extensive selection of
analytic software
 Physically secure facility with no network connections
outside the centre.
 Access limited to researchers with approved projects,
reliability security status, and “sworn-in” under the
Statistics Act as “deemed employees” of Statistics
Canada.
 Staffed by a Statistics Canada analyst
Analytic results are checked before leaving the RDC to
ensure respondent confidentiality is protected
Mission of the RDCs
• To promote and facilitate quantitative research on the
economy, education, health and society that will benefit
all Canadians and enhance Canada’s standing in the
global community.
• To provide secure access to Statistics Canada household
and workplace survey microdata to researchers in regions
across Canada.
• To visibly protect the confidentiality of respondents of
Statistics Canada surveys.
• To disseminate research findings to the policy community
and to the public on a wide range of economic, human
developmental, health and social issues.
RDC locations
University of Alberta
University of
British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of Toronto
McMaster University
Waterloo University
UNB
Université
de
Montréal
Dalhousie
Data Training Schools
• Competitive process managed by SSHRC
• Instruction on advanced analytical
techniques - focus on longitudinal analysis
• Each year SSHRC and Statistics Canada
support several DTS programs at
universities
• Example: SPIDA at York University
http://www.yorku.ca/spida
Longitudinal data holdings
New longitudinal surveys for which it is not possible to
produce public use longitudinal microdata files:
• Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada
(available in 2003) (LSIC)
• National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth
(NLSCY)
• National Population Health Survey (NPHS)
• Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID)
• Workplace and Employee Survey (WES)
• Youth in Transition Survey (YITS)
Cross sectional data holdings
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Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)
Health Services Access Survey (HSAS)
Ethnic Diversity Survey (release winter 2003)
Food Expenditure Survey (FoodEx)
General Social Survey (selected cycles)
Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Employment Insurance Coverage Survey (EICS)
Survey of Consumer Finances
Survey of Financial Security (SFS)
Programme for Int’l Student Assessment (PISA)
Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning (SAEP)
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Surveys of Graduates and Follow-up Surveys of Graduates (SOG and
FSOG)
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Survey of School Leavers
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Adult Education and Training Survey
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and other household surveys
Current BCIRDC projects
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Children, youth and families
Public Policy and Child Care
Family environment and child outcomes
Resilience and hope among rural adolescents
Adolescent risk-taking behaviour
Vulnerable teens
Consequences of union disruption for women
and children
Parental labour supply, child care and child
outcomes
Education
• Determinants of parents’ planning for their
children’s post-secondary education
• Equity of university attendance in Canada:
have tuition increases had an impact?
• Social interactions and schooling
• Choice of field of study and graduate
outcomes
Health
• Conventional and complementary therapies used
by older adults with arthritis
• Psycho-social causes of chronic pain
• Health, income and employment
• Population-clinical simulation model of
osteoarthritis development and applications
• Immigrant status and unmet health care needs in
British Columbia
• Assessing mental health: what are we measuring
and how does it relate to health-care utilization?
• Unemployment and health
Income, spending and wealth
• Pay equity
• Evolution of the earnings structure since
the 1960’s
• Food policy effects on nutrient
consumption among low-income
households
• Taxation, savings and portfolio allocations
• Participation and savings in RESPs
Labour
• Movements in job tenure of new labour market
entrants
• Job tenure and firm size
• High school completion/leaving and repeat use of
Employment Insurance
• EI benefits, job search and labour force participation
• EI affects on job tenure
• Fertility and female labour supply
• Nursing labour market
• Factors affecting entrepreneurial success of
immigrants in Canada
• Changes in job stability since 1976: a cohort
explanation
Workplace practices and policies
• Employment standards legislation and
employment and hours variations
• High performance work practices,
workplace performance, downsizing and
employee well-being
• Strategic focus and performance
• Impact of combinative capabilities on
small firms’ performance
• Competitive policies and firm performance
• Determinants of hours constraints
Who uses the RDCs?
SFU, UBC and UVic graduate students and faculty
from many diverse disciplines:
• Agricultural sciences
• Business and Public Administration
• Counselling and Educational Psychology
• Economics
• Family Studies
• Gerontology
• Health care and epidemiology
• Nursing
• Sociology
• and other disciplines
What scale of research is best
suited for the RDCs?
Longer term projects are best suited for the
RDCs
• graduate thesis/dissertation research
• individual research projects for journal
manuscripts, conferences or policy papers
• team projects involving faculty and
students working at one or several RDCs
Public-use data is better suited for course
studies and other short term projects.
Support for researchers using
the BCIRDC
• Statistics Canada analyst on site to provide
support
• Off-site syntax development
– Dummy/synthetic data is available for the NLSCY,
NPHS and WES (with remote access). Allows
researchers to prepare their syntax before coming to
the BCIRDC.
• Methodological
– Access to methodological support through Statistics
Canada.
Access to the RDCs
• Project proposal submitted to SSHRC through an
online application system. Links to the
application site are on BCIRDC website at:
http://data.library.ubc.ca/rdc/ on the Application
Process page.
• Proposal evaluation by SSHRC peer review and
Statistics Canada
– Is access to confidential microdata necessary?
– Will the data support the analysis?
– Does the project have scientific merit?
– Does (do) the researcher(s) have the expertise to
conduct this research?
Access to the Research Data
Centres (cont’d)
• Proposal must be made for specific project
• Security check - enhanced reliability status
• Orientation session and “oath of office”
• Researcher agrees to provide publicly
available report that falls within Statistics
Canada’s mandate
RDC products
• Research paper series
available from RDC web sites
summaries and links on the Statistics Canada site
•Websites
•BCIRDC at http://data.library.ubc.ca/rdc/
•Statistics Canada at www.statcan.ca/english/rdc/
•BCIRDC newsletter
•BCIRDC seminars and workshops
•RDC conferences to connect researchers and policy makers