RIDIR: The Sub-National Data Archive System for Social and Behavioral Data

该项目将为社会和行为数据创建次国家数据档案系统。对政治、社会和经济行为的研究越来越依赖于地方、国家以下的数据，以及分析师结合来自多个来源的数据的能力。数据可能在地理和时间单位以及测量方法上有所不同，并且可能有各种偏差。研究人员选择不同的数据可能会导致不同的结论，因此，在不同的研究中，可能会降低实证研究的可靠性、透明度和可重复性。次国家社会和行为数据存档系统将为社会科学家、政策制定者和普通公众提供一套工具(1)整合不同类型的地理数据，(2)考虑主要来源的测量差异，以及(3)帮助评估不同数据来源研究结果的概括性和稳健性。通过使国家以下的数据更容易获得，该项目将帮助学术界内外的研究人员测试假设、生成预测、评估过去和现有项目的有效性，并为相互竞争的倡议分配稀缺资源提供信息。总体目标是通过使研究人员能够更容易地访问和有效使用来自当地的高粒度数据，来提高对社会如何发展、繁荣和变化的理解。次国家社会和行为数据档案系统解决了社会科学研究中的三个长期存在的问题：理论分析单位与现有数据规模不匹配；同一变量有多个数据来源，可能是相互冲突、重叠或互补的；经验结果在不同的衡量战略中或在使用来自不同来源和案例的数据时缺乏普遍性。该项目将通过开发一个技术壁垒低、高度可定制的综合数据的平台来缓解这些瓶颈，使用户能够标准化各国的国家以下各级分析单位，在存在多个数据源的情况下采用内置方法，并随时评估其结果对替代数据和衡量选择的稳健性和普适性(包括变化的区域背景)。该平台的核心功能将包括：(1)用户友好的网络界面，研究人员可在其中利用大量存档数据轻松构建自己的国家以下各级数据集；(2)开放源码软件包，使用户能够将这些工具应用于自己的数据，并根据个人规格和需求产生更具定制的产出；(3)对于希望向平台贡献原始数据的用户，提供存档工具和数据审查程序，以确保技术合规性和质量控制。该计划将建立在以前数据集成项目的基础上，提供一个涵盖数据生命周期几乎每个阶段的平台。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will create the Sub-National Data Archive System for Social and Behavioral Data. Research on political, social, and economic behavior increasingly depends on local, sub-national data, and on analysts' ability to combine data from multiple sources. Data may differ in geographic and time units and in measurement approaches and may have a variety of biases. Different data choices by researchers can lead to different conclusions and thus, across studies, can reduce the reliability, transparency, and replicability of empirical research. The Sub-National Data Archive System for Social and Behavioral Data will offer social scientists, policymakers, and the general public a suite of tools (1) to integrate different kinds of geographic data, (2) to account for differences in measurement across primary sources, and (3) to help assess the generalizability and robustness of research results across data sources. By making sub-national data more accessible, the project will help researchers inside and outside of academia test hypotheses, generate forecasts, evaluate the effectiveness of past and existing programs, and inform the allocation of scarce resources across competing initiatives. The overall goal is to improve understanding of how societies develop, prosper, and change, by enabling researchers to have easier access and effective use of highly-granular data from local areas. The Sub-National Data Archive System for Social and Behavioral Data addresses three persistent problems in social science research: mismatch between theoretical units of analysis and the scale of available data; the availability of multiple data sources for the same variables, which may be conflicting, overlapping or complementary; and a lack of generalizability of empirical results across alternative measurement strategies, or when using data from different sources and cases. This project will relieve these bottlenecks by producing a platform to develop highly-customizable integrated data with low technical barriers, enabling users to standardize sub-national units of analysis across countries, employ built-in methods where multiple data sources exist, and readily evaluate the robustness and generalizability of their results to alternative data and measurement choices (including shifting regional contexts). Core features of the platform will include: (1) a user-friendly web interface, where researchers can easily construct their own sub-national datasets from a large collection of archived data, (2) an open-source software package, which enables users to apply these tools to their own data, and produce a more customizable output based on individual specifications and needs, and (3) for users who wish to contribute original data to the platform, an archiving tool and data review process to ensure technical compliance and quality control. The program will build on previous data integration projects by providing a platform that covers almost every stage in the data life cycle.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.