Rehabilitation Dataset Directory: Repository Profile

Repository: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Basic Information
Repository Full Name Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Repository Acronym ICPSR
General Theme or Special Population

Social science, Behavioral science
Summary

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) maintains a data archive of approximately 250,000 files including nearly 15,000 studies of research in the social and behavioral sciences.  It hosts 21 specialized collections of data including: disability and rehabilitation (ADDEP), demographic research (DSDR), education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.


ICPSR has a 50-year history of archiving and preserving data collections. It is an international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations and provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community. 


ICPSR collaborates with a number of funders, including U.S. statistical agencies and foundations, to create thematic data collections and data stewardship and research projects. NICHD (DSDR), NIA (NACDA), and NIDA (NAHDAP) currently support specialty archives that use the ICPSR infrastructure. ICPSR is a unit within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan 
Key Terms

Social science, Behavioral science
Sponsoring Agency/Entity

Wide variety of funders.

See https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ for listing
Datasets Information
Data Type(s)

Primarily survey data but includes other data types as well.
Continent(s)

Asia, Central America & Caribbean, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Africa
Countries

Extensive international coverage including:


Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, United States 

Complete list of geographies:

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/search/studies?q=countries
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
  • Nearly 15,000 studies available (250,000+ files) 
  • ICPSR hosts a number of archives and projects where the datasets and accompanying resources are publicly available.
  • ICPSR curated datasets are very well documented and consistent 
  • Online data analysis available for some ICPSR curated datasets 
  • Thematic collections (20+) can simplify searches
  • Well designed interface and filtering tools 
  • All data available for free to ICPSR members
  • OpenICPSR provides public access to numerous datasets for ICPSR non-members.
Limitations

Dataset and documentation quality may vary - Datasets deposited into the repository without ICPSR curation may not be as well documented, depending on how closely the individual researcher/depositors adhere to ICPSR's guidelines.

Non-ICPSR members may need to pay to access to some data.

How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?
Data Repository Details
Primary Website

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/
Repository Tools
  • Filter by subject terms, geography, data format, time period, release date, data availability/restrictions (public or restricted use)
  • Keyword searching
  • Variable lists & frequencies
  • Search and compare variables:The Social Science Variables Database (SSVD) enables users to examine and compare over 5 million variables and questions across studies or series.
  • Online data analysis (some ICPSR curated datasets)
  • ICPSR Bibliography of Data-related Literature: a continuously-updated database of thousands of citations of works using data held in the ICPSR archive. 
Data Submission Requirements

ICPSR welcomes and encourages deposits of digital data. Depositing data into ICPSR is free. Deposits are made using a secure data deposit form that describes the data collection and upload content.

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/deposit/
Data Submission Process

Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/deposit/guide/
Data Access

To find data:

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/

Some ICPSR data are freely available for anyone to download. These data are part of the topical archives at ICPSR and generally include data pertaining to criminal justice, health and aging, substance abuse and mental health, child care, and health and medical care. Other data, referred to as members-only data is free to ICPSR member institutions but non-members must pay for access.. 

List of member institutions and subscribers:

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/membership/administration/institutions
Data Access Requirements

Varies by dataset:

  • Some datasets are publicly available
  • Others are restricted and require an application process
  • Non-ICPSR members or subscribers may need to pay to access some datasets