Archiving the Vietnam Era Twin Studies of Aging (VETSA): New Uses for Old Data

描述(由申请者提供)：这笔赠款的主要目标是通过将越南时代双胞胎老龄化研究(VETSA)的数据存档在大学间政治学和研究联盟(ICPSR)的国家老龄化计算机化数据档案馆(NACDA)，来加强和促进使用来自越南时代的双胞胎老龄化研究数据进行二次分析。Vetsa是一个全国性的纵向项目，旨在研究遗传和环境对中年后期认知和大脑变化的影响。从2002年开始，Vetsa基线评估对社区居住的1237对年龄在51-60岁的男性双胞胎进行了面对面测试，包括2013年完成的为期五年的跟踪调查。该项目的独特之处在于它包含了一个 在行为遗传学研究的背景下，对相同的中年人进行深度认知电池、磁共振成像数据、神经内分泌数据、生物医学、生物标记物和心理社会测量。我们将实现我们的主要目标如下：目标1：我们将把与社会科学数据集的电子记录相关的新技术应用于Vetsa数据，例如数据记录倡议(DDI-LIFECYCLE)开发的那些技术。DDI-生命周期通过应用强大的编程语言，如电子标记语言(XML)，以符合国际存档标准的格式，促进创建可通过互联网访问的社会科学数据。与项目有关的材料(如程序、码本、评分系统、衡量标准、变量定义、统计句法和数据集)将被记录和链接，以便于其他研究人员互动使用。现代电子档案技术加快了档案研究内部和之间的联系。目标2：以电子方式记录的VETSA材料将存放在NACDA/ICPSR档案馆，便于查阅和通过互联网传播。目标3：除了存档可供分析的数据外，我们还将创建Vetsa 2参与者实际书面答复的数字副本(例如，图纸设计的副本)。通过使用最新技术扫描和组织电子可搜索格式的文件，这些文件可以有效地存储在NACDA/ICPSR档案中，研究人员很容易检索到。已经扫描了Vetsa 1号纸面记录，并将与Vetsa 2号记录一起存档。获取原始记录和实际响应具有巨大的生成性，因为它允许未来的研究人员以最初从未设想的方式开发新的技术、方法和编码系统。此处提议的详细电子文件不是公开提供的VETSA数据的一部分，拟议的项目将提供实施存档所需的资源和基础设施。通过使数据结构易于理解和访问，新一代研究人员可以使用这些数据进行二次分析，从而使国家老龄研究所在Vetsa上的原始投资成倍增加。随着我们人口的迅速老龄化，这些数据可能会通过识别可能加速或延缓认知和大脑衰老的风险和保护因素，对公共政策产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary objective of this grant is to enhance and facilitate use of data from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) for secondary analysis by archiving the data at the National Archive for Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA) at the Interuniversity Consortium for Political Science and Research (ICPSR). The VETSA is a nationwide longitudinal project designed to examine genetic and environmental influences on late midlife cognitive and brain changes. Starting in 2002, the baseline VETSA assessment conducted in-person testing of a community-dwelling sample of 1237 male twins ages 51-60 including a five- year follow-up completed in 2013. The project is unique in its inclusion of an in depth cognitive battery, magnetic resonance imaging data, neuroendocrine data, biomedical, biomarker, and psychosocial measures in the same middle-aged adults in the context of a behavior genetic study. We will achieve our primary objective as follows: Aim 1: We will apply new techniques associated with electronic documentation of social science data sets such as those developed by the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI-Lifecycle) to VETSA data. DDI- Lifecycle facilitates the creation of internet accessible social science data through the application of powerful programming languages such as electronic mark-up language (XML) in a format compliant with international archiving standards. Project-connected materials (e.g., procedures, codebooks, scoring systems, measures, variable definitions, statistical syntax, and datasets) will be documented and linked so as to facilitate interactive use by other researchers. Modern electronic archiving techniques expedite links within and between archived studies. Aim 2: Electronically documented VETSA materials will be placed at the NACDA/ICPSR archives where they can be easily accessed and disseminated through the internet. Aim 3: In addition to archiving data that are ready for analysis, we will create digital copies of actual on-paper responses of VETSA 2 participants (e.g., copies of drawn designs). By using up-to-date techniques for scanning and organizing documents in electronically searchable formats, these can be efficiently stored at the NACDA/ICPSR archives and easily retrieved by researchers. VETSA 1 on-paper records are already scanned and will be archived along with the VETSA 2 records. Access to original records and actual responses is immensely generative in that it allows future researchers to develop new techniques, approaches, and coding systems in ways never originally envisioned. The detailed electronic documentation proposed here is not part of the publicly available VETSA data, and the proposed project will provide the resources and infrastructure needed to implement the archiving. By making data structures easy to understand and easy to access, new generations of researchers can use the data for secondary analyses, thereby multiplying the National Institute on Aging's original investment in the VETSA. With our rapidly aging population, these data have potential for high public policy impact through the identification of risk and protective factors that may speed or delay cognitive and brain aging.