UNews - Research Data Centre

StatsCan Research Data Centre a valuable resource

trevor.kenney — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:35:32 +0000

It's a tiny, plain research space, with four small workstations and no Internet access. It requires, among other things, an RCMP security clearance to access the information located within it, and has steel reinforcement built into the walls – so forget about cell phone use. Card key access is tightly controlled and someone is on-site to monitor attendance and carefully screen all notes and results that leave.

So, with all this fuss to access, why is Abdie Kazemipur (sociology) so happy? He and other approved researchers now have access to the entire Statistics Canada (StatsCan) database system – a new initiative that will help ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers gain significant ground as they work on projects that require raw data sets normally not available to the general public.

Dr. Abdie Kazemipur, (l) and graduate student Martin Russenberger (r) are the people to contact if your research project requires extensive Statistics Canada data.

The U of L recently flipped the 'on' switch to launch a StatsCan Research Data Centre (RDC) Branch, one of just two dozen all-access points in Canada – mostly in larger institutions – for people who are working with data provided by StatsCan for approved projects.

U of L administration (VP-Academic, VP-Administration, and VP-Research) and the dean of Arts and Science supported the $70,000 project. It also received significant input and assistance from the library, campus facilities and IT departments as the space was created.

Kazemipur, the academic director of the U of L Research Data Centre and a sociology researcher who uses StatsCan data in his work on immigration, says the chance to access rich individual and household data in Lethbridge saves both time and money, offering an opportunity to significantly increase research productivity.

"I would previously have to go to Calgary, and spend intense days analyzing the data," he says. "There were many limitations on my time, and on what I was able to do during the time I had."

Kazemipur says the new centre should expand research opportunities for many faculty members in social sciences, health sciences and management who, like him, want to go deeper into their research and beyond the data available for public use.

Local access should also be an enticement to other researchers to come to the U of L to work or conduct research, in particular the 22 research affiliates of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, which is expected to be one of the more frequent users of the facility.

"Researchers in the Prentice Institute – more than 20 faculty, post-docs and students – are delighted to have access to micro-level data in our new Research Data Centre," says
Dr. Susan McDaniel, the institute's director. "Our mission is to examine population change in shifting economic environments. One of the best ways to do this is to follow individuals over time rather than compare different sets of people at two points in time."

McDaniel says that the RDC enables researchers in one of her SSHRC-funded projects to follow Canadians at seven points of time as they move from mid-life into their older years.

"It is really, as famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky was fond of saying, skating to where the puck will be. I am certain that having the RDC here will help us recruit new faculty and junior research chairs to work in the Prentice Institute."

The process to gain access to the data is not as challenging is it might first sound, Kazemipur says. Projects must go through several steps, including an
online application to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which triggers a request to StatsCan for access to the appropriate dataset – and that's where the security checks come in.

Once approved, a researcher gains access to the data centre with a swipe card, and can sign in and out as needed to complete their work.

Anyone wishing to use the centre, or who has a project they feel could benefit from access to the StatsCan data, can contact Kazemipur for more information on the process.

Contact him at 403-329-5132 or e-mail abdie.kazemipur@uleth.ca. Or, you can contact site supervisor Martin Russenberger, a part-time StatsCan employee and current Geography/Economics graduate student at the U of L (rdc@uleth.ca).

This story first appeared in the Legend. To view the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Impact of ORIS seen everywhere

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:37:20 +0000

The Office of Research and Innovation Services is active in promoting the interests of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge on a number of fronts. This includes ongoing support for faculty researchers and the establishment of research initiatives and partnerships at local, regional, national and international levels.

In the past year, we have seen a number of examples that highlight the behind-the-scenes work that ORIS does in supporting research interests at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and beyond.

Pictured (L to R), the U of L's Dr. Dan Weeks, Shaun Wedick (Consul of Canada, Chennai), Dr. Karl Staenz, Deep Mazumdar, Prashant Shulkle (Director General, Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada).

The office was instrumental in establishing a branch Research Data Centre (RDC) through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. The RDC is a university-based laboratory that offers researchers secure access to confidential micro-data from a constantly growing number of datasets, primarily from Statistics Canada. Researchers also have access to fully equipped workstations, standard and highly specialized statistical analysis packages and technical support through this agreement, all provided free of charge.

ORS supported Dr. Abdie Kazemipur (sociology) during the process, as he was instrumental in this application, giving our researchers a secure level of access to vital data that they have never previously enjoyed.

The establishment of new initiatives also included support for the first inter-disciplinary conference on childhood in Canadian history, The Childhoods Conference: Mapping the Landscapes of Childhood. ORS worked with Dr. Jan Newberry, among others, to obtain funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research to present the May 5-7 event, one that has the potential to spin-off into a childhood studies institute.

"Most folks from the U of L community will associate ORIS with providing researchers the expert support necessary for developing winning proposals for research grant competitions," says Vice-President (Research) Dr. Daniel Weeks. "However, it is equally important that we provide ongoing assistance to facilitate productive partnerships that allow our researchers to advance research and/or knowledge mobilization."

The ORIS also works to create partnerships beyond the walls of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as it looks to push research interests in local and regional quarters. Recently, the U of L signed a memorandum of understanding with Lethbridge College, Lethbridge Economic Development and SouthGrow Regional Initiative and Community Futures, Lethbridge Region.

The memorandum formalizes a partnership that intends to push innovation and commercialization activities throughout the southern Alberta region, supporting business and industry by facilitating the flow of knowledge, stimulating the transfer of innovative ideas, advancing areas of mutual interest and providing greater access to business for our students as they look to gain practical experience through applied research projects.

"The increasing pressure to commercialize and innovate research outcomes is a challenge for universities," says Weeks. "Indeed, commercialization is not a primary function of a university. We have taken the position that creating stronger alliances between community organizations and other post secondary institutions can be enormously effective and yield important benefits for everyone."

The ORIS then works to take the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ message to the national and international level, facilitating partnerships that create the framework for global research projects. In January, Weeks was accompanied by Dr. Karl Staenz (geography) and Deep Mazumdar (PhD candidate, geography) as they participated in the Canadian Geomatics Science and Technology Partnering Mission in India. The mission sought to showcase how Canada's expertise and technology could assist India as it addresses its need for leading-edge geospatial solutions.

The scope of benefits gained by the U of L as it enhanced its presence in the Indian market and built essential business relationships cannot yet begin to be realized.

It is the amalgamation of this activity that makes up the breadth of the ORIS mandate and assists in growing the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's reputation as a comprehensive research institution both locally and beyond.

For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Research Data Centre

StatsCan Research Data Centre a valuable resource

Related Topics

Impact of ORIS seen everywhere

Related Topics