Social Science Data and Software (SSDS) Blog: October 2008 Archives

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October 31, 2008

Selections from Census Product Update (10/31/2008): Fact of the Day & Hot Tip

Fact of the Day
State and Local Employees

Local governments accounted for 12.1 million full-time equivalent employees, and state governments had 4.3 million. Most full-time equivalent state and local employees worked in education (8.8 million), hospitals (989,000), police protection (933,000) and corrections (731,000). These data, and much more, are available on our web site. The census of governments is taken at five-year intervals in years ending in 2 and 7. We also conduct an annual public employment survey that provides estimates for years in which the census is not conducted and parallels that of the census of governments.

Hot Tip
New Data Tool Available

A new online search tool known as Build-a-Table is now available to help users find data. Users can search for employment and payroll data by state, level of government (i.e. state, local, or state and local combined) and function of government (i.e. education, health, highways) for censuses in 1997, 2002 and 2007. All governments across the country were surveyed.

Hot Links

* Current Census Product Update -- Full Issue
http://www.census.gov/mp/www/cpu/index.html

Posted by ronbo at 04:05 PM

October 30, 2008

ANES Announcement: Conference on Optimal Coding of Open-Ended Survey Data

ANES is pleased to announce a Conference on Optimal Coding of Open-Ended Survey Data, December 4-5, 2008, at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Theme:

Many surveys include questions that are asked in an open-ended format. For such questions, respondents are not offered a discrete set of options from which to choose. Instead, respondents answer in their own words. To protect respondent privacy and to facilitate quantitative analysis, survey producers later code these open-ended responses by sorting them into discrete categorical variables.

Many researchers are asking important questions about the coding of open-ended responses. Some questions pertain to the properties of coding schemes. Other questions pertain to the procedures by which such schemes are implemented (e.g., how many coders to use and how to evaluate inter-coder reliability). Other questions pertain to documentation. There are, for example, numerous cases in which scholars who want to have debates about how to interpret coded responses cannot because surveys today tend to offer incomplete or inconsistent documentation of the coding properties and procedures described above.

Leading survey organizations, including the American National Election Studies, the General Social Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the National Longitudinal Survey are now seeking advice from a broad spectrum of experts about how to improve open-ended coding practices. To this end, they are co-sponsoring a conference on Optimal Coding of Open-Ended Survey Data at the University of Michigan on December 4 and 5, 2008.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together experts on systematic analysis of qualitative data and survey researchers to discuss options for improving conventional coding procedures implemented in the survey research world. Speakers and participants will include leading scholars from large-scale surveys, coding staff members from major survey organizations and scholars who have published and thought extensively about optimal procedures for coding open-ended text.

Confirmed speakers include:

Kristin Behfar, Paul Merage School of Business, UC-Irvine

David Fan, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota

Nigel Fielding, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey

Roberto Franzosi, Department of Sociology, Emory University

Harry Ganzeboom, Department of Social Research Methodology, Free University Amsterdam

Udo Kelle, Institute for Sociology, Philipps-University of Marburg

Klaus Krippendorf, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

David Repass, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Roel Popping, Department of Sociology, University of Groningen

W. James Potter, Department of Communication, UC-Santa Barbara

Carl Roberts, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University

Fabrizio Sebastiani, Networked Multimedia Information Access Laboratory, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

Paul Skalski, Department of Communication, Cleveland State University

We invite you to come to this conference and contribute to this broad interdisciplinary attempt to understand and improve best practices in open-ended coding. The registration fee, which includes all sessions plus breakfast and lunch on both days is $50.00. Space is limited to the first 50 people to submit their completed registration forms. For further information, please contact us at anes@electionstudies.org or visit our website at http://electionstudies.org/conferences/methods/MethodsConference.htm

Funded by the National Science Foundation and cosponsored by the American National Election Study, the General Social Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the National Longitudinal Survey.

Posted by ronbo at 05:34 PM

October 29, 2008

MAPSS - Learn About the Secure Data Center from C. Matthew Snipp

IRiSS, the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences and sponsor of the Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences has opened up a secure data center on campus. Sociology Professor Matthew Snipp will talk about this exciting new resources for researchers at Stanford.

Pizza will be served outside Building 320 (Geology) Room 105 at 11:45AM, talk starts at 12:00PM. (RSVP for food at http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html)

Thursday, October 30th
12:00 PM
Building 320 (Geology) - Room 105

Accessing Restricted Data at the IRiSS Secure Data Center

Social scientists have long desired access to the detailed record files from surveys, censuses, registries, and other sources of data collected by the federal government and other organizations. Citing concerns about insuring the privacy of respondents and the need to uphold promises of confidentiality, these agencies typically withhold a great deal of information of about their respondents or implement measures that deliberately obscure this information. For example, many surveys disclose relatively little geographic information or report truncated age or income distributions (“top-coding”). For researchers interested in the effects of neighborhood characteristics, or groups such as the very old or the very rich, these restrictions frequently result in the use of crude proxies—e.g. treating census tracts as neighborhoods—or are simply insurmountable. Over the past decade, data producers have become more sympathetic towards these issues, and how restricted data dissemination adversely affects the utility of the data they collect. As a consequence, these producers have established procedures for granting access to confidential information when researchers can demonstrate a valid need for these data. A growing number of institutions have developed secure facilities to protect the security of confidential data and help faculty and students gain access to data sources that have been unavailable in the past. The IRiSS Secure Data Center (IRiSS-SDC) was established in 2007 and is a facility to help Stanford faculty and students manage access to confidential data. Matthew Snipp, the director of the IRiSS-SDC will discuss the current operations and future plans for the Center as well as how faculty and students may use the center for their own projects.

C. Matthew Snipp is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University, the Director of Stanford’s Center for Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, and the Director of the Secure Data Center within Stanford’s Institute for Research in the Social Sciences.. Before moving to Stanford in 1996, he was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison. He has been a Research Fellow at the U.S. Bureau of the Census and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Professor Snipp has published 3 books and over 60 articles and book chapters on demography, economic development, poverty and unemployment. His current research and writing deals with the methodology of racial measurement, changes in the social and economic well-being of American ethnic minorities, and American Indian education. For nearly ten years, he served as an appointed member of the Census Bureau’s Racial and Ethnic Advisory Committee, He also has been involved with several advisory working groups evaluating the 2000 census, two National Academy of Science panels charged with designing the 2010 census and has served as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics.

MAPSS is an interdisciplinary methodology program designed to expose researchers to diverse modes of data collection and analysis from across the social sciences. MAPSS offers a colloquium series, a workshop, a graduate certificate program, and various research resources. If you would like to learn more about the Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), please check out our website at mapss.stanford.edu.

All members of the Stanford community are invited to attend and to RSVP in advance to reserve food.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html.

Lunch will be served at 11:45 for those who have RSVP'd; the talks start at 12:00.
For more information, please contact mapss-info@lists.stanford.edu.

Posted by ronbo at 05:02 PM

October 28, 2008

Two New IES Reports from the National Center for Education Statistics

The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences has released two Common Core of Data (CCD) reports.

"Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Education Agencies From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2006-07 - First Look"
This report presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary local education agencies (LEAs) in the United States and the territories in the 2006-07 school year, using data from the Local Education Agency Universe Survey of the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system. To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009303

"Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2006-07 - First Look"
This report presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States and the territories in the 2006-07 school year, using data from the Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey of the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system. To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009304

Posted by ronbo at 02:16 PM

October 27, 2008

National Household Education Surveys Program of 2001-07 Electronic Codebook, Public-Use Data Files, and User's Manuals

Two surveys were fielded in 2007 as part of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES): the School Readiness Survey (SR) and the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI). Three surveys were fielded in 2005: the Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP), the After-School Programs and Activities (ASPA), and the Adult Education (AE) surveys. The 2003 collections were the Parent and Family Involvement (PFI) and the Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons (AEWR) surveys. Three surveys were also fielded in 2001 as part of NHES. These were earlier versions of the 2005 collections and include the Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Survey (AELL), the Before- and After-School Programs and Activities Survey (ASPA), and the Early Childhood Program Participation Survey (ECPP). The data, data documentation, and software to help search through and convert the data from these surveys into SPSS, SAS, or STATA files are available on CD. Data files and documentation can also be downloaded directly from this website.

Posted by ronbo at 06:26 PM

Recent ICPSR updates and additions - New Releases through 2008-10-26

Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive
along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:

New Additions

21402 Child Care Market Rate Survey Practices and Policies of States,
Territories, and Tribes, 2005-2006
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR21402

22211 Afrobarometer Round 3: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in
South Africa, 2005
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22211

22213 Afrobarometer Round 3: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in
Uganda, 2005
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22213

22215 Afrobarometer Round 3: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in
Zimbabwe, 2005
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22215

22745 National Hospital Discharge Survey, 2006
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22745

23100 National Survey of Miranda Warnings, 2005-2006
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR23100

23120 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2002 and 2005
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR23120

Updates

2391 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1996
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02391

2638 ABC News Starr Report Poll #1, September 1998
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02638

2755 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02755

3023 Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention
Research Program, 1992-1998: [United States]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03023

6319 Multiple Cause of Death, 1990
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06319

6950 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1995
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06950

9135 Eurobarometer 28.1: Young Europeans -- Life, Interests, Education,
Employment, and Knowledge of Foreign Languages, October-November 1987
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09135

22541 Global Terrorism Database 1.1, 1970-1997
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22541

22600 Global Terrorism Database II, 1998-2004
http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22600

You can also view a list of all studies added and updated in the last ninety
days by visiting the ICPSR Web site at
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/access/recent.html.

Posted by ronbo at 02:57 PM

From American Community Survey Alert 60 - Revised

(Released October 27, 2008)

* The ACS Compass Products
Over the next six months, the Census Bureau will be releasing a series of
handbooks, a set of presentations, and an e-learning tutorial to provide
guidance to users on how to understand and best use ACS data. This set of
educational materials is called the ACS Compass Products. Today marks the
first release of ACS Compass Products and includes the following two
audience-specific handbooks in PDF format:

What General Data Users Need to Know - This handbook helps general
audiences understand the basics of the ACS, its opportunities and
challenges, and how to access and use the ACS data on the Census Bureau’s
Web site. It includes concrete examples of how ACS data can be used to
answer real-world questions about our society.

What the Business Community Needs to Know – This handbook acknowledges that
to make effective use of the ACS, businesses need to understand how ACS
data are collected and reported, and their advantages and limitations
relative to the long form data previously collected during the decennial
census. This handbook describes the data products available from the ACS
and how to access them. Examples are provided with step-by-step
instructions on accessing the data.

The ACS Compass Products handbooks may be found at:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/Compass/compass_series.html

** A Look Ahead

December 9, 2008 -- Release of 2005-2007 ACS Social, Economic, Housing, and
Demographic 3-Year Estimates

On December 9, 2008 the U.S. Census Bureau will introduce 3-year ACS
estimates. These 3-year estimates will be based on data collected from 2005
to 2007 and will include all geographic areas with populations of 20,000 or
more. Of particular interest will be data released for midsize population
areas (20,000 to 64,999.) Characteristics for these areas have not been
released since the last decennial census in 2000.

***ACS Resources

The ACS Web site recently was redesigned to make navigation easier and to
help users find the information they need more quickly. Information about
the 2007 Data Release can be found at:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/index.html.

The Census Bureau's Web site now contains guidance on comparing 2007 ACS
data to 2006 ACS data, as well as comparing 2007 ACS data to Census 2000
data. This guidance may be found at:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/compACS.htm.

Information about ACS data products and published geographies may be found
at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/.

2007 ACS data may be found on the Census Bureau's American FactFinder:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts=

ACS data products from 1996 through 1999, except Congressional Web Page and
Fact Sheets, are archived on the ACS FTP site:
http://www2.census.gov/acs/downloads/Core_Tables.

Errata Notes page may be found at:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/Errata.htm.

****Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about the American Community Survey,
please call (800) 923-8282 or e-mail cmo.acs@census.gov.

Posted by ronbo at 02:44 PM

October 22, 2008

From Stanford GIS List: GIS workshops at UC Berkeley 10/29

Hi all,

For anyone interested in learning more about GIS, UC Berkeley's
Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF) is offering a series of workshops
about geospatial technologies.

An Introduction to GIS workshop is being offered Wednesday, Oct 29
from 9am-noon. The cost is $153 for non-UC affiliates. A course
outline is listed below:

Intro to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

* Presentation
o What is GIS?
o Geospatial Data Considerations
o Geoprocessing and spatial analysis
o Data Sources
o Using ArcGIS 9.2
* Interactive
o Finding and downloading spatial data
o Creating a new shapefile
o Simple geoprocessing
o Creating a map for export

GIF workshop schedule can be found at:
http://gif.berkeley.edu/support/workshops.html

*******************
Mindy Syfert
GIS Manager
Stanford University

Posted by ronbo at 02:11 PM

MAPSS - Hands On HLM with Simon Jackman (Thursday, October 23, 2008)

This quarter, the Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences will be focusing on Hierarchical Models. Come on Thursday for a Hands-On Session With Hierarchical Models by MAPSS Director and Stanford Professor of Political Science Simon Jackman.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE MOVED ROOMS AND WILL BE STARTING AT 11:45 FOR FOOD AND 12:00 FOR THE TALK.

Pizza will be served outside Building 320 Room 105 at 11:45PM, talk starts at 12:00PM. (RSVP for food at http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html)

Thursday, October 23rd
12:15 PM
Building 320 - Room 105

Simon Jackman is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. He also holds a courtesy appointment as an Associate Professor with the Department of Statistics. Jackman directs Political Science Computational Laboratory, along with the MAPSS program.
Jackman is widely regarded as one of the top methodologists in the field on Political Science. He has published extensively on American and Australian Government, Public Opinion, and Statistical Methods for Political Analysis. He also has a forthcoming book, Bayesian Analysis for the Social Sciences. Jackman has a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Rochester, and B.A. (with Honors) in Government from University of Queensland, Australia.

All members of the Stanford community are invited to attend and to RSVP in advance to reserve food.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html.

Lunch will be served at 11:45 for those who have RSVP'd; the talks start at 12:00.
For more information, please contact mapss-info@lists.stanford.edu.

Posted by ronbo at 05:20 AM

October 21, 2008

New IES Report from the National Center for Education Statistics: "Student Victimization in U.S. Schools Results From the 2005 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey"

The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences has released the report "Student Victimization in U.S. Schools Results From the 2005 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey."

This report provides estimates of student victimization as defined by the 2005 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). NCVS is the nation's primary source of information on crime victimization and the victims of crime in the United States and the SCS is a supplement to NCVS that was created to collect information about school-related victimization on a national level. This report incorporates findings from student respondents ages 12-18 in grades 6-12 that were interviewed during the 2005 school year. It shows that student victims of crime are more likely to report conditions of an unfavorable school climate, security measures at school, and exhibit fear and avoidance behaviors. Additional topics covered in this report include the prevalence and type of student victimization at school and selected characteristics of victims, including their demographic characteristics and school type; and victim and nonvictim reports of the presence of gangs and weapons and the availability of drugs.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009306

Posted by ronbo at 06:06 PM

Selections from Census Update (October 16, 2008)

Housing

American Housing Survey: 2007. (PDF - 6.82 MB) The American Housing Survey (AHS) is conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The survey collects data on the nation's housing, including apartments, single-family homes, mobile homes, vacant housing units, household characteristics, income, housing, neighborhood quality, and much more. National data are collected in odd numbered years, and data for each of 47 selected metropolitan areas are collected currently about every six years. The AHS returns to the same housing units year after year to gather data; therefore, this survey is ideal for analyzing the flow of households through housing.

Small Area Health Insurance Estimates: 2005. Interactive tables, maps, and downloadable files containing estimates of health insurance coverage for all counties and states. Data are provided by age, sex, and income at the county level, and, in addition to these characteristics, by race and Hispanic origin at the state level. The estimates are based on models combining data from a variety of sources, including the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, Census 2000, administrative records, and population estimates.

Economic Census and Surveys

2008 Capital Spending Report: US Capital Spending Patterns, 1999-2006. A look at capital expenditure patterns from 1999 to 2006 reveals data about firms with and without employees, expenditures for structures and equipment, and expenditures for major industry sectors. The data comes from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey.

Older Worker Profiles. Reports (will be released for each of over 30 states) providing a detailed picture of workers 55 and older at the county and metropolitan area levels for 2004. Based on data from the Local Employment Dynamics program, the reports highlight the age of the states' work force, job gains, and losses, industries in which older workers are concentrated, job stability, and earnings.

Government

Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal Year 2007 (PDF - 5.27 MB) and Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2007 (PDF - 3.65 MB). These two reports provide an overview of federal spending at the national, state and county levels. The data are obtained from federal agencies and describe spending for procurement contracts, salaries and wages, direct payments, loans and insurance, as well as federal grants to state and local governments.

See full Census Update for more.

Posted by ronbo at 03:09 AM

October 20, 2008

Recent ICPSR updates and additions - New Releases through 2008-10-19

Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:

New Additions

22209 Afrobarometer Round 3: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in
Nigeria, 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/22209.xml

22212 Afrobarometer Round 3: The Quality of Democracy and Governance in
Tanzania, 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/22212.xml

Updates

2222 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): Fall
Enrollment, 1987
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/02222.xml

4370 American Community Survey (ACS): Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS),
2004
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04370.xml

4701 Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04701.xml

6257 Multiple Cause of Death, 1989
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/06257.xml

6299 Multiple Cause of Death, 1988
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/06299.xml

9812 Multiple Cause of Death, 1985
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/09812.xml

9879 Multiple Cause of Death, 1983
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/09879.xml

You can also view a list of all studies added and updated in the last ninety
days by visiting the ICPSR Web site at
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/access/recent.html.

Posted by ronbo at 10:48 PM

October 17, 2008

Updates from the European Social Survey (ESS) Data Archive

- Cumulative data file for the first three rounds of the ESS
- New editions of data from the first three rounds of the ESS
- Users' deposit requirements

Cumulative data file for the first three rounds of the ESS
The file was published on http://ess.nsd.uib.no on 16 October 2008. The file contains core module data from countries that have fielded at least two of the first three ESS rounds.

New editions of the first three rounds of the ESS
ESS1-2002 edition 6.1, ESS2-2004 edition 3.1 and ESS3-2006 edition 3.2 of the integrated files with data from the core and rotating modules were published on http://ess.nsd.uib.no on 16 October 2008.
For further details please see the version notes available from
http://ess-xml.nsd.uib.no/ny/25_Version_notes2.cfm?year=2002
http://ess-xml.nsd.uib.no/ny/25_Version_notes2.cfm?year=2004
http://ess-xml.nsd.uib.no/ny/25_Version_notes2.cfm?year=2006

Users' deposit requirements
To provide funding agencies with essential information about the use of ESS data and to facilitate the exchange of information about the ESS, users of ESS data are required to register bibliographic citations of all forms of publications referring to ESS data in the ESS on-line bibliography database at http://ess.nsd.uib.no

With best wishes,
The ESS data team at Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD)

Posted by ronbo at 04:35 PM

October 16, 2008

From Census Product Update - October 16, 2008

Fact of the Day
Capital Expenditures By US Businesses

Capital spending by all US businesses rose 14.3 percent to a record high $1.31 trillion, in 2006. This represents a $165 billion increase from the $1.14 trillion in capital spending reported in 2005 and surpasses the previous high of $1.16 trillion in 2000.

These data come from the Census Bureau's 2008 Capital Spending Report: US Capital Spending Patterns, 1999 - 2006. Find out much more at the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey website!

Hot Tip
International Statistics!

The International Programs Center (IPC) is part of the US Census Bureau Population Division. It conducts demographic and socioeconomic studies and strengthens statistical development around the world through technical assistance, training, and software products. For over 50 years IPC has assisted in the collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and use of statistics with counterpart governments throughout the world. Check out their website, including these handy links to international statistical agencies!

Current Census Product Update -- Full Issue
http://www.census.gov/mp/www/cpu/index.html

Posted by ronbo at 03:02 PM

October 15, 2008

From IES Newsflash: 2009 National Forum on Education Statistics and the NCES Management Information Systems (MIS) Conference

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), will sponsor the 2009 National Forum on Education Statistics and the NCES Management Information Systems (MIS) Conference in Seattle, Washington. The Forum will be held on February 16-17, 2009. The MIS Conference (co-sponsored by the Washington State Department of Education) will be held February 18-20, 2009.

The 2009 MIS Conference is a concentrated 3 days of information about best practices, innovative ideas, current issues, and practical how-to advice about management information systems for K-12 education. It brings together the people who work with information collection, management, transmittal, and reporting in school districts and state education agencies.

This year, the MIS Conference will offer more than 80 presentations, demonstrations, and workshops conducted by practitioners from K-12 information systems.

You are invited to attend the 22nd Annual MIS Conference in Seattle, Washington and to submit a proposal for presenting a session that will add to the conference's interest and usefulness. Topics are invited from all sources, but the major focus will be on data use, data standards, statewide data systems, and data quality.

*** The deadline for the submission of proposals is November 07, 2008.***

For conference information and registration, visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=381

Posted by ronbo at 06:07 PM

October 13, 2008

QSR Hosted Workshop: NVivo 8 Fundamentals

QSR Hosted Workshop: NVivo 8 Fundamentals
23 October 2008
8.30am – 4.00pm (US Pacific Standard Time)
Executrain
101 Spear Street, One Rincon Center
San Francisco, CA

This hands-on workshop is a basic introduction to NVivo 8. At the end of the day, you should have enough knowledge to get up and running with your own project.

Using sample data, this workshop will teach you how to create a project and how to represent and work with data sources including documents, audio, video and pictures. You will also be given a demonstration of some of the tools to assist in the analysis of your information. Time is allocated during the afternoon session to practice with your own data.

Workshop costs include morning and afternoon refreshments. Desktop computers are provided and you’ll receive your own comprehensive workbook.

For a complete introduction to NVivo 8, QSR recommends that you also complete a second one day workshop called 'Moving on in NVivo 8'. This workshop is scheduled for 24 October . Click on the related link below for more information.

Price: US$350 for one day workshop or US$600 for two day workshop from 23 – 24 October (taxes are not applicable)

Student Price: US$300 for one day workshop or US$500 for two day workshop from 23 – 24 October. (Full time students only and taxes are not applicable)

Complete announcement (including links to related workshops) on QSR web site:
http://www.qsrinternational.com/training-and-events_conferences-and-events_detail.aspx?view=695

Posted by yan at 05:35 PM

2008 Fall North American Stata Users Group meeting in San Francisco, Nov 13-14

The 2008 Fall North American Stata Users Group meeting will be held November 13 and 14 at Handlery Union Square Hotel, located in downtown San Francisco.

The meeting will be interesting to a wide variety of Stata users, with talks at all levels in many different subject areas. The program of speakers is at the end of this email. All the details about the meeting, including registration information, can be found at

http://www.stata.com/meeting/fnasug08

The invited speakers are Christopher Baum (Department of Economics, Boston College), Colin Cameron (Department of Economics, UC-Davis), John Neuhaus (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UC-San Francisco), and Joe Schafer (Department of Statistics, Penn State). Stata developers will also attend the meeting, both to present and to take notes during the popular "wishes and grumbles" session.

Posted by yan at 04:23 PM

October 08, 2008

From IES Newsflash: NCES Announces DataLab

DataLab, a new website from the Institute of Education Sciences' National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), puts a wide range of survey data collected by NCES at your fingertips. Whether you want a quick number or an in-depth look at education data, the tools in the DataLab are designed to do both.

QuickStats, available now, is a guided table generator that allows users to produce a table with ease. Designed for those who are new to NCES data, or those who wish to answer basic questions -- what percent of college students are from low-income families? what percent of adults are taking coursework outside of the traditional college setting? what are the teaching challenges most often cited by public school teachers? -- QuickStats provides easy access to frequently used variables in many NCES studies of students, teachers, schools, and postsecondary institutions.

PowerStats, available in the spring of 2009, will permit users to produce complex tables and to run regressions, and to draw upon thousands of variables from many NCES studies. Like its predecessor the NCES DAS, Powerstats will allow for many kinds of regression analyses, including weighted least squares and logistic regression.

To view the site, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/

Posted by ronbo at 10:56 AM

October 07, 2008

Recent MEPS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey) Data Products (October 7, 2008)

MEPS HC-102F: 2006 Outpatient Visits File

Release Date: September 2008

This public use file is one in a series of event-level public use files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS (and SPSS) program statements and in SAS transport format, the Outpatient Visits File provides detailed information on outpatient visits. Data are gathered from a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States and can be used to make estimates of outpatient utilization and expenditures for calendar year 2005. Each record represents one, household-reported, outpatient visit reported during the 2006 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2 and the 2006 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2006). The Outpatient Visits Public Use Data File contains characteristics associated with the outpatient visit and imputed expenditure data such as the date of the visit, whether or not a doctor was seen, type of care received, type of services provided, expenditures and sources of payment, and imputed sources of payment. The data is on the MEPS website at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102F

MEPS HC-102G: 2006 Office-Based Medical Provider Visits File

Release Date: September 2008

This public use data file is one in a series of event-level public use data files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS (and SPSS) program statements and in SAS transport format, the Medical Provider Visits File provides detailed information on office-based medical provider visits. Data are gathered from a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States and can be used to make estimates of office-based medical provider utilization and expenditures for calendar year 2006. Each record represents one household-reported office-based medical provider visit reported during the 2006 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 2006 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2006). The Office-Based Provider Public Use Data File contains characteristics associated with the office-based visit, such as, date of the visit, time spent with the provider, types of treatment and services received, types of medicine prescribed, condition codes, expenditures, source of payment associated with the visit and imputed expenditure variables. The data is on the MEPS website at:
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102G

MEPS HC-102E: 2006 Emergency Room Visits

Release Date: September 2008

This public use file is one in a series of event-level public use files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS (and SPSS) program statements and in SAS transport format, the Emergency Room Visits File provides detailed information on emergency room visits. Data are gathered from a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States and can be used to make estimates of emergency room utilization and expenditures for calendar year 2006. Each record represents one, household-reported, emergency room visit reported during the 2005 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 2005 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2005). The Emergency Room Visits Public Use Data File contains characteristics associated with the emergency room visit, such as, the date of the visit, types of care and services received, types of medicine prescribed during the visit, condition codes, expenditures, and source of payment associated with the visit, and imputed expenditure variables. The data is on the MEPS website at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102E

MEPS HC-102H: 2006 Home Health

Release Date: August 2008

This public use data file is one in a series of event-level public use data files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Household-reported information on expenditures for home health visits including the type of provider, type of services received, length of the visit, reason for the visit, expenditures, and sources of payment. Released as an ASCII file with SAS and SPSS programming statements and in SAS transport format, this public use file provides information on home health care for a nationally representative sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States and can be used to make estimates of the utilization and expenditures associated with home health care during the 2006 calendar year. This file consists of 2006 data obtained in the 2006 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 2006 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2006). The data is on the MEPS website at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102H

MEPS HC-102C: 2006 Other Medical Expenses

Release Date: August 2008

This public use data file is one in a series of event-level public use data files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS and SPSS programming statements and in SAS transport format, this public use file provides information on the purchase of and expenditures for medical equipment, supplies, glasses and other medical items for a nationally representative sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States and can be used to make estimates of the utilization and expenditures associated with medical items during the 2006 calendar year. This file consists of 2006 data obtained in the 2006 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 2006 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2006). The data is on the MEPS website at:
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102C

MEPS HC-102B: 2006 Dental Visits

Release Date: August 2008

This public use data file is one in a series of event-level public use data files drawn from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC). Released as an ASCII file with SAS and SPSS programming statements and in SAS transport format, the Dental Visits File provides detailed information on dental events for a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States during the 2006 calendar year. This file consists of 2006 data obtained in the 2006 portion of round 3 and rounds 4 and 5 for Panel 10, as well as rounds 1, 2, and the 2006 portion of round 3 for Panel 11 of the survey (i.e., the rounds for the MEPS panels covering calendar year 2006), and contains variables pertaining to household reported dental visits. The file includes the date of the dental event, type of provider seen, if the visit was due to an accident, reason for the dental event, and whether or not medicines were prescribed. The data is on the MEPS website at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-102B

Posted by ronbo at 08:26 PM

MAPSS - Ken Cor - Student Presentation

This quarter, the Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences is focusing on Hierarchical Models. Following this week's student presentation, we will spend about half an hour distilling some of the information from the last two weeks. The session will be ENTIRELY EQUATION FREE (we promise). This week, Ken Cor, a Ph.D. Student from the School of Education will be presenting the results of his meta-analysis of the relationship between teacher autonomy and educational outcomes.

Pizza will be served outside Building 200 (History) Room 305 at 12:00PM, talk starts at 12:15PM. (RSVP for food at http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html)

Thursday, October 9th
12:15 PM
Building 200 (History) - Room 305

Clarifying the Relationship Between Autonomy Support, Motivation, Performance and Related Educational Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of 38 research reports examined the relationship between perceived autonomy support and motivation, performance, and related educational outcomes across varying levels of education. Results indicate that perceived teacher autonomy support significantly and positively relates to academic performance, cognitive engagement, introjected regulation, identified regulation, intrinsic motivation, self-determination, and perceived academic confidence. Perceived teacher autonomy support was found to significantly and negatively relate to external regulation. Similar results were found for the relationship between perceived parental autonomy support and the same variables, with the exception of introjected regulation, which did not relate. Moderator analysis revealed that the strength of the relationship between perceived teacher autonomy support and motivation outcomes varies as a function of the educational level of students.

Ken Cor

Bachelor of Science: Chemical Engineering
Bachelor of Education: Secondary Education
Masters in Education: Measurement, Evaluation, and Cognition
1st year Phd Student in the Stanford University School of Education

All members of the Stanford community are invited to attend and to RSVP in advance to reserve food.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/rsvp_signup.html.

Lunch will be served at 12:00 for those who have RSVP'd; the talks start at 12:15.
For more information, please contact mapss-info@lists.stanford.edu.

Posted by ronbo at 08:13 PM

From Census Product Update (October 3, 2008): Fact of the Day - Federal Government Expenditures in 2007

Retirement and disability payments to individuals accounted for $783 billion (more than 30 percent) of total federal spending in 2007. Of that amount, 80 percent, or $623 billion, went to Social Security recipients. Social Security was composed of retirement insurance payments ($369 billion), survivors insurance ($113 billion), disability insurance ($105 billion) and supplemental security income payments ($36 billion). You can find these and other highlights from the Consolidated Federal Funds Report: 2007 (PDF - 5.27 MB) on our web site.

Current Census Product Update -- Full Issue
http://www.census.gov/mp/www/cpu/index.html

Posted by ronbo at 08:02 PM

From Census Product Update (October 3, 2008): Hot Tip - Need Historic ACS Data?

Recently, all ACS data products for the years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 were removed from the American FactFinder (AFF) and placed on a special FTP site. However, users reported problems with the files on this site, and the Census Bureau decided to pull this site down until the problems can be fixed. We expect to resolve the problems soon and will restore the FTP site.

In the meantime, for years 2002, 2003, and 2004, Detailed Tables, Profiles, and Ranking Tables are available for downloading on:

http://www2.census.gov/acs2002/
http://www2.census.gov/acs2003/
http://www2.census.gov/acs2004/

For years between 1999 and 2003, Profiles, Multiyear Profiles, and Change Profiles are available at links below. In addition, ranking tables for years 2003, 2002, 2001, and 2000 are also available on the ACS Website.

2003 Data Profiles
2003 Multiyear Profiles
2002 Data Profiles
2001-2002 Change Profiles
2000-2002 Change Profiles
2001 Data Profiles
2000-2001 Change Profiles
2000 Data Profiles

Current Census Product Update -- Full Issue
http://www.census.gov/mp/www/cpu/index.html

Posted by ronbo at 07:45 PM

New IES Report from the National Center for Education Statistics: "Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: Fall 2007 and Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2006-07, and 12-Month Enrollment 2006-07"

The National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences has released the report "Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: Fall 2007 and Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2006-07, and 12-Month Enrollment 2006-07."

This report presents findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) fall 2007 data collection, which included two survey components: Institutional Characteristics for the 2007-08 academic year, and Completions covering the period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. It also presents data on 12-Month Enrollment for the 2006-07 academic year. These data were collected through the IPEDS web-based data collection system.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008159

Posted by ronbo at 07:17 PM

ANES Announcement: Questionnaire Outlines are on the Online Commons

The ANES is pleased to announce the schedule for the release of our
Pre-Election and Post-Election Questionnaires. The full questionnaires
will be released after the study data collection is completed. The
Pre-Election questionnaire will be available through our website beginning
on November 14, 2008; the Post-Election questionnaire will be available
through our website beginning on January 15, 2009. Outlines of the topics
covered in the Pre-Election and Post-Election questionnaires can now be
viewed by all members of our Online Commons community.

To read more about Online Commons membership, please go to:
http://www.electionstudies.org/onlinecommons/overview.htm
Becoming an Online Commons member gains you access to information not
shared with the general public. To become a member of the Online Commons,
please go to:
http://www.electionstudies.org/onlinecommons.htm

Posted by ronbo at 07:16 PM

October 06, 2008

Recent ICPSR updates and additions - New Releases through 2008-10-05

Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive
along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:

New Additions

4570 Development and Validation of a Coercive Control Measure for Intimate
Partner Violence in Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC, 2004
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04570.xml

20341 Testing the Efficacy of the SANE-SART Programs in Kansas,
Massachusetts, and New Jersey, 1997-2001
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/20341.xml

21921 CBS News Monthly Poll #3, January 2007
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/21921.xml

22720 Introduction of Television to the United States Media Market,
1946-1960
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/22720.xml

Updates

2641 ABC News "Nightline" Starr Report Poll #4, September 1998
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/02641.xml

4157 National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle VI, 2002
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04157.xml

4564 Eurobarometer 63.4: European Union Enlargement, the European
Constitution, Economic Challenges, Innovative Products and Services,
May-June 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04564.xml

20347 Impact of Institutional Placement on the Recidivism of Delinquent
Youth in New York City, 2000-2003
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/20347.xml

You can also view a list of all studies added and updated in the last ninety
days by visiting the ICPSR Web site at
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/access/recent.html.

Posted by ronbo at 08:21 AM

October 03, 2008

Roper Center Newsletter, October 2008

Newsworthy

The Board of Directors of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is pleased to announce that Professor Robert Blendon of Harvard University is the recipient of the second Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research.

Roper Center Mourns Passing of Harry O'Neill

Harry W. O'Neill, 79, passed away on Friday, Sept. 12, 2008. Mr. O’Neill was a member of the Roper Center’s Board of Directors from 1983 through 2007 when he retired from the Board. During that time Mr. O’Neill served for ten years as Chairman.

Topics at a Glance!--Election '08

This year's historical presidential election is heated. Find out public opinion on important issues driving the vote, the economy, the horse race and the sitting President's approval rating. See if others agree or disagree with who you feel should be the next president. Click here to get more public opinion data on this month's Topic at a Glance--The 2008 Election!

http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/elections/presidential/presidential_election_2008.html

Based on a new topic each month, TAG offers a generous free sampling of related polling data and details of survey datasets held by the Roper Center, along with articles previously published in Public Perspective magazine.

Experience the depth of information housed in the Roper Center archives - The complete list of "Topics at a Glance!"
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/cgi-bin/hsrun.exe/Roperweb/pom/pom.htx;start=HS_pom_list

Newly spotlighted datasets
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/cgi-bin/hsrun.exe/roperweb/Catalog40/Catalog40.htx;start=HS_surveyspot
Updated as of October 1, 2008

Special studies of interest recently added to iPOLL.
The database now contains nearly a half million questions!
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/data_access/ipoll/ipoll.html

Title: Attitudes Toward The Public Schools Survey [June,2008]
Source: Survey by Phi Delta Kappa.
Methodology: Conducted by Gallup Organization, June 14-July 3, 2008 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult including an oversample of parents of school-age children sample of 1,002. Results were weighted to be representative of a national adult population.
Search for: Searched iPOLL for: Topic: 'education'; Organization: 'Gallup'; Date: '06/14/2008 to 06/14/2008'

Additional resources - Web sites with special survey samples

Transatlantic Trends 2008 International Survey
http://www.transatlantictrends.org/trends/

Posted by ronbo at 02:30 PM

October 01, 2008

NCES Winter Forum and the 22nd Annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Conference "Mountains of Data - Sound Choices"

This year, the MIS Conference will offer more than 80 presentations, demonstrations, and workshops conducted by practitioners from K-12 information systems.

For conference information and registration, visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=381

Posted by ronbo at 10:02 AM