Library
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
What is the ICPSR?
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is a membership-based academic organization that "maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction . . . In addition, ICPSR provides user support to assist researchers in identifying relevant data for analysis and in conducting their research projects."
What kinds of data are available from the ICPSR?
Records of ICPSR holdings are in the Bowdoin Library catalog. Search by Word using "icpsr and [your topic]."
ICPSR's subject categories include:
- Census Enumerations
- Community and Urban Studies
- Conflict, Aggression, Violence, Wars
- Economic Behavior and Attitudes
- Education
- Elites and Leadership
- Geography and Environment
- Government Structures, Policies, and Capabilities
- Health Care and Facilities
- Instructional Packages
- International Systems
- Legal Systems
- Legislative and Deliberative Bodies
- Mass Political Behavior and Attitudes
- Organizational Behavior
- Social Indicators
- Social Institutions and Behavior
- Publication-Related Archive
- External Data Resources
Codebooks as a Source of Information
More specific data on studies can be found in codebooks (technical documentation) that accompany the data files. A codebook will explain the design of the study, the execution-phase decisions made by the original researchers, the survey instrument/questionnaire, the sampling and weighting of variables, and the technical information needed to locate the variables on the tape.
The codebook must be consulted to use the data as it contains the variables used in the study and the information needed for the user to design the research and conduct her or his analysis.
All codebooks are available electronically.
Technical Details
Most ICPSR datasets are available for download in a variety of formats depending on the statistical software (SAS, SPSS, Stata, etc.) you will use to analyze the data. Information Technology maintains a list of statistical software licensed by the College, as well as a list of computer labs, which includes information about the scientific/mathematical software available in the labs. For more specific information, contact the IT Help Desk (x3030, helpdesk@bowdoin.edu) or the Student Help Desk (x5050, itss@bowdoin.edu) with your questions about accessing statistical analysis software.
When you attempt to download an ICPSR dataset, you will be prompted to log in to a MyData account, or create one if you are a new user. Your MyData profile can be customized so that the download page only presents download options for your preferred software package. You may also use the MyData account to enable a notification service, which will e-mail you automatically when ICPSR updates any file that you have previously downloaded. There is also a MyData privacy setting which will shield your identity from the official representative in the Library. Please consider not enabling this option! The Library only uses this information for statistical purposes and to be ready to assist you.
Further Assistance
For further information or technical assistance with ICPSR, contact:
Karl Fattig
ICPSR Representative
Hawthorne-Longfellow Library
725-3027; kfattig@bowdoin.edu
This page created and maintained by Library Web Team. Last update: November, 2006.