HNDS-I: CatMapper: User-friendly tools for integrating data by complex, dynamic categories

科学家和政策制定者经常汇集来自许多不同来源的数据来研究紧迫的社会问题（例如，经济变化、移民、战争、政治运动以及健康和福祉）。然而，当数据集对同一事物使用不同的标签或对不同事物使用相同的标签时，将来自不同数据集的数据汇集在一起是具有挑战性的。CatMapper是一个在线应用程序，帮助用户克服跨数据集转换的挑战。使用CatMapper的工具，用户可以以新的方式解锁和组合数据，以回答紧迫的社会问题。这个项目创建了一个CatMapper版本，其中包括用户测试的在线工具，并建立了一个可以从中受益的用户社区。该项目还为学生提供了教育和研究的机会。CatMapper由两个应用程序组成，用于连接社会科学中经常使用的类别。SocioMap专注于种族、语言、宗教和行政区域的数千个类别。ArchaMap专注于数千种用于考古材料文物和遗址的类别。为了帮助将数据集连接在一起，CatMapper提供了四套工具：(1)探索有关特定类别的信息，(2)跨数据集翻译类别，(3)以新的方式将数据集聚集在一起，(4)存储和共享不同数据集之间的翻译和合并，以供他人使用。CatMapper包括研究人员，学生和其他感兴趣的公众成员希望学习如何连接不同数据流的数据来回答科学问题的自我指导教程。CatMapper对学术界、工业界、非政府组织和政府机构的用户免费提供。它包括一个用户友好的界面，以方便在多个空间和时间尺度上分析人口数据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Scientists and policymakers often bring together data from many different sources to study pressing social issues (e.g., economic change, migration, war, political movements, and health and well-being). However, bringing together data from different datasets is challenging when datasets use different labels for the same thing or use the same label for different things. CatMapper is an online application that helps users overcome the challenge of translating across datasets. With CatMapper’s tools, users can unlock and combine data in new ways to answer pressing social questions. This project creates a version of CatMapper that includes user-tested online tools and builds a community of users who can benefit from them. The project also provides educational and research opportunities for students. CatMapper consists of two applications that are used to connect categories often used in the social sciences. SocioMap focuses on thousands of categories for ethnicities, languages, religions, and administrative districts. ArchaMap focuses on thousands of categories used for material artifacts and sites in archaeology. To help link datasets together, CatMapper provides four sets of tools to: (1) explore information about specific categories, (2) translate categories across datasets, (3) bring together datasets in new ways, and (4) store and share translations of and merges between different datasets for use by others. CatMapper includes self-guided tutorials for researchers, students, and other interested members of the public wishing to learn how to connect data across diverse data streams to answer scientific questions. CatMapper is freely available to users across academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, and government institutions. It includes a user-friendly interface to facilitate analyses of population data at multiple spatial and temporal scales.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.