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CISER Data Archive

Cornell's ICPSR Membership

What is ICPSR?

ICPSR is the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, located at the University of Michigan. ICPSR is a membership organization of over 550 universities and research institutions worldwide. Cornell was a founding member when it was organized in 1962.

In addition to supporting quantitative research and instruction, ICPSR helps professional organizations develop standards to describe and preserve research data. Its Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving has advice on how researchers can archive their own data. You may also deposit your research data with ICPSR so it can be used by others.

What are the benefits of Cornell's membership?

A primary beneift is access to about 5,500 datasets (over 100,000 files) covering political science, sociology, economics, demography, and interdisciplinary areas. Some datasets are contributed by individuals; others are obtained from organizations that sponsor research. ICPSR also distributes data from public sources (like federal statistical agencies) with many value-added features. It maintains several topical archives in the areas of demography, criminal justice, mental health, aging, child care, and education.

ICPSR conducts a summer training program of workshops and courses on social science research methods. Cornell students, faculty, and staff can attend these programs at a reduced tuition rate.

ICPSR staff continue to develop its services. Recent additions include online analysis and extraction for a selected list of datasets. The MyClass feature allows instructors to create temporary ICPSR accounts for classroom use. New in 2008: The Online Learning Center helps instructors integrate quantitative literacy into their curricula.

How do I find the ICPSR data I need?

Search its online catalog of holdings using the simple or advanced features. You can search by ICPSR study number, principal investigator(s), date, series, geography, and many other fields. Studies also have lengthy descriptive abstracts that are fully searchable. Extensive online search help is available, and you can browse studies under broad subject categories.

CISER also has many ICPSR datasets in its collection. These can be downloaded from its online catalog or used from a CISER research computing node. Archive staff can help you identify datasets from ICPSR--or other sources -- for your research.

How can I get ICPSR data for use in my research?

There are two ways to get ICPSR datasets:

  • Ask data archive staff to add them to CISER's own collection. You can also search our holdings by keywords or the ICPSR study number to see if we already have the data you need.
  • Use ICPSR Direct. You can download files to your desktop, laptop, department server, or your \user space in CISER's computing environment.

Anyone can search the ICPSR catalog, but you must be a Cornellian affiliated with the Ithaca campus to download files. You must also create a MyData account from the login page by providing your academic status, department, and privacy setting preferences. After you register, log in using your e-mail address and password. You must also be using the site from a Cornell IP address. (See the next section for information on off-campus access.) You can modify your account settings at any time.

To receive announcements about new services and information on new and updated datasets, subscribe to the "recent updates and additions" e-list. Postings are usually sent on Fridays.

Can I use ICPSR Direct from off campus?

Yes. Use this Cornell University Library Gateway link and your login/password. This identifies you as a Cornell user and lets you download ICPSR files from off campus locations. If you use your MyData account from a computer with a Cornell Ithaca IP address, your account is flagged for off-campus access for the subsequent six months.

How do I use ICPSR datasets?

Most most data files are in plain text format and require use of documentation and a statistical software package. (Documenation identifies the variables in the data file. Software extracts those variables and formats the data file for analysis.) The process isn't difficult, but it can be time consuming. Many ICPSR datasets have SAS, SPSS, and Stata input programs. The site has step-by-step instructions on how to modify them for your own use. (ICPSR continues to increase the number of datasets in SAS, SPSS, and Stata formats.)

Some software packages have input wizards. These can import plain text character-delimited and column-aligned data files. Excel has such a wizard (from the toolbar, Data=>Import External Data), as does SPSS. This works well if your dataset doesn't have too many variables, and it still requires careful use of documentation.

Using datasets can be challenging if you're not familiar with statistical software packages. ICPSR has an online tutorial for new users, as well as many help and FAQ pages. The CISER archive tutorial also has a list of resources on how to use data files and their documentation.

Are there any restrictions on use of the files?

You can't redistribute the data to non-Cornellians without permission from ICPSR. As with all sources, you should appropriately cite datasets you use. ICPSR has examples of how to cite them in papers and research publications.

Studies you get from ICPSR Direct are public-use datasets. This means that it's highly unlikely the individual respondents in surveys can be identified. The Cornell Institutional Review Board for Human Participants considers ICPSR as a distributor of data that do not require review. However, you should obtain IRB approval to merge a dataset with any other data that could increase the possibility of respondent disclosure. The IRB provides an informative document that discusses this and other topics related to data use, Secondary Data Analysis Requiring Review.

Where can I get more information?

The ICPSR site has many instructional features: help pages, lists of data FAQs, and a data use tutorial. You can also send your questions, especially ones specific to Cornell, to the CISER data archivist.