University of Michigan Research Data Center

该赠款提供资金，在密歇根大学社会研究所调查研究中心内开设一个研究数据中心（RDC）。RDC将向研究人员提供由人口普查局和其他机构收集的原始数据。这些机密数据存放在调查研究中心的安全设施内。为了获得这些数据，获得批准项目的研究人员将在人口普查局获得特殊的宣誓身份。研究人员可以根据严格的协议公布在RDC内进行的分析结果，以保护底层数据的机密性。这种访问的目的是利用个人和公司的数据进行学术研究。分析源数据的能力具有巨大的科学效益。其中包括充分利用政府机构收集的信息的能力；考虑到行为和特征的异质性，分析个人和企业的行为；并将个人层面的数据来源结合起来，研究被更多汇总数据掩盖的关系。该RDC促进了数据收集机构和研究界之间富有成效的互动。通常，使用政府统计数据的研究人员是数据的被动消费者，这些数据通常是为了学术研究以外的目的而收集的。通过提供与人口普查局合作处理源数据的工具，RDC使研究界能够有效地参与改进人口普查数据。研究数据中心将以密歇根大学在社会科学研究和处理和分析大型数据库方面的长期优势为基础。社会研究所及其调查中心和人口研究中心在管理这类数据库和保持个人资料的机密性方面拥有大量专门知识。大学、研究所和中心在提供广泛的数据访问和提高数据质量方面有着良好的记录。

The grant provides funding to open a Research Data Center (RDC) within the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The RDC would provide researchers access to source data collected by the Census Bureau and other agencies. These confidential data are placed within a secure facility at the Survey Research Center. To gain access to these data, researchers with approved projects would obtain special sworn status within the Census Bureau. Researchers can publish results of analysis carried out within the RDC subject to a rigorous protocol for protecting the confidentiality of the underlying data. The purpose of this access would be to conduct academic research using data on individuals and firms. The ability to analyze the source data has enormous scientific benefits. These include the ability to make full use of the information collected by government agencies; to analyze the behavior of individuals and firms taking into account the heterogeneity of behavior and characteristics; and to combine sources of data at the individual level to study relationships obscured by more aggregate data. This RDC promotes productive interaction between the data collection agencies and the research community. Typically, researchers using government statistics are passive consumers of the data, which is usually collected for a purpose other than academic research. By providing a vehicle for working with the source data in collaboration with the Census Bureau, the RDC allows the research community to participate effectively in improving Census data.A Research Data Center would build on the University of Michigan's long-standing strength in social science research and in the processing and analysis of large-scale databases. The Institute of Social Research and its Survey Center and Population Studies Center house substantial expertise in the management of such databases and for maintaining the confidentiality of information on individuals. The University, the Institute, and the Centers have an established record in providing wide access to data and in improving quality data.