July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005
Table of Contents
Introduction
Founded in 1972, the Social Science Research and Instructional Council (SSRIC) is the oldest of the disciplinary councils in the California State University system. With representatives from each of the CSU campuses, the Council is dedicated to assisting students and faculty in their learning, teaching, and research by:
- Facilitating access to social science data and computer-related instructional and research materials
- Promoting quantitative social science research by students via the annual SSRIC student research conference
- Initiating and conducting training programs
- Recommending computerized social science projects in the CSU curriculum
- Providing a forum for sharing information about social science data and computer products
- Advising CSU administrators on policies related to providing quantitative social science data for research and instruction
The SSRIC is the CSU systems’ clearinghouse for social science data, notably data from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Field and Roper polling centers. These data sources provide data to support quantitative social science teaching, research and service by students and faculty, and well as sponsored programs and grant development by CSU research centers.
All the functions described above are performed by faculty representatives as a service. Dues requested of individual campuses primarily defray data subscription costs.
ICPSR
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is the largest social science data repository in the world. It is the primary source of social science data for every research oriented university and nearly every other university and college in the United States. Over the past few years, data access from the ICPSR has gone online and interactive under the ICPSR Direct system. During academic 04-05, 3,479 datasets totaling 91,186.16 megabytes were accessed from ICPSR by CSU affiliated students, faculty and staff. Individual campus usage statistics are as follows.
Please note that academic 04-05 was the last year students, faculty and staff of non-subscribing campuses had access to ICPSR data.
California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo
- Total Number of Datasets = 20
- Total Number of Megabytes = 1,447.52
California State Polytechnic University at Pomona
- Total Number of Datasets = 24
- Total Number of Megabytes = 167.29
California State University at Bakersfield
- Total Number of Datasets = 75
- Total Number of Megabytes = 1,424.34
California State University at Chico
- Total Number of Datasets = 42
- Total Number of Megabytes = 524.19
California State University at Dominguez Hills
- Total Number of Datasets = 309
- Total Number of Megabytes = 3,319.11
California State University, East Bay
- Total Number of Datasets = 71
- Total Number of Megabytes = 5,583.75
California State University at Fresno
- Total Number of Datasets = 34
- Total Number of Megabytes = 459.30
California State University at Fullerton
- Total Number of Datasets = 354
- Total Number of Megabytes = 7,314.01
California State University at Los Angeles
- Total Number of Datasets = 209
- Total Number of Megabytes = 3,848.42
California State University at Long Beach
- Total Number of Datasets = 0
- Total Number of Megabytes = 0
California State University, Monterey Bay
- Total Number of Datasets = 16
- Total Number of Megabytes = 151.56
California State University at Northridge
- Total Number of Datasets = 27
- Total Number of Megabytes = 2,094.08
California State University at Sacramento
- Total Number of Datasets = 269
- Total Number of Megabytes = 14,042.12
California State University at San Bernardino
- Total Number of Datasets = 629
- Total Number of Megabytes = 4,429.63
California State University, San Marcos
- Total Number of Datasets = 30
- Total Number of Megabytes = 1,750.85
California State University at Stanislaus
- Total Number of Datasets = 29
- Total Number of Megabytes = 744.81
Humboldt State University
- Total Number of Datasets = 88
- Total Number of Megabytes = 8,337.51
San Diego State University
- Total Number of Datasets = 722
- Total Number of Megabytes = 14,819.92
San Francisco State University
- Total Number of Datasets = 233
- Total Number of Megabytes = 12,612.61
San Jose State University
- Total Number of Datasets = 295
- Total Number of Megabytes = 8,109.20
Sonoma State University
- Total Number of Datasets = 3
- Total Number of Megabytes = 5.94
Roper Center for Public Opinion
The Roper Center provides public opinion data for the nation and the world. More than half of the Roper holdings are international. Studies go back many decades providing the opportunity to do longitudinal research.
The CSU maintains a membership in the Roper Center which allows it to obtain the data for 50 studies per year. During the current contractual year (October 2004 through September 2005) data had to be ordered through the SSRIC. Starting in the next contractual year (beginning on October 1) faculty, staff, and students will be able to download data directly to their desktop and there will be no limit on the number of data sets that can be downloaded. (There will be a limit on the number of older studies that can be obtained because these studies require special processing.) We expect this to expand usage from the Roper Center.
During this contractual year, we ordered 42 data sets for faculty from 12 campuses and expect to order our contractual allotment of 50 by the end of the contract year. There are some data sets that the Roper Center provide free to subscribing campuses. Seven of these data sets have been ordered from 6 campuses. Combining these two different types of data produces the following usage by campus:
|
Number of Roper Data Sets Downloaded by Campus |
|
|
Campus |
Number |
|
Bakersfield |
1 |
|
Chico |
1 |
|
East Bay |
1 |
|
Fresno |
2 |
|
Fullerton |
3 |
|
Los Angeles |
5 |
|
Northridge |
10 |
|
Pomona |
3 |
|
Sacramento |
4 |
|
San Diego |
4 |
|
San Francisco |
2 |
|
San Jose |
11 |
|
San Luis Obispo |
1 |
|
Stanislaus |
1 |
|
Total |
49 |
|
Number of campuses |
14 |
Usage data always requires one important proviso. A single download may be used in a class with many students, but only shows on the usage chart as a single download. Additionally, a single faculty member may download a study to be used for research by multiple faculty members.
The Field Institute
The CSU maintains a membership in the Field Institute which provides our faculty, staff, and students access to both current and past Field polls. The Field Institute is one of several state polls that provide current political opinion data for the state on issues of interest to policy makers, researchers, and students. In addition to access to these polls, our membership in The Field Institute provides faculty with the ability to place up to 18 questions per year on the Field Polls. When work demand allows, we can also place student interns at The Field Institute which has proven to be a very valuable work experience for many students. Field hosts an annual Field Workshop in San Francisco which provides information on many topics of current interest to the state.
The CSU contracts with UC Berkeley to provide access to the data sets we received from The Field Institute. The following table provides information on the number of times that faculty, staff, or students accessed the Field archive at Berkeley. This refers to the number of times that a person logged onto the Field archive to look for or download data.
|
Number of Times the Field Archive was Accessed by Campus |
|
|
Campus |
Number |
|
Bakersfield |
50 |
|
East Bay |
14 |
|
Fresno |
49 |
|
Fullerton |
26 |
|
Monterey Bay/ Channel Islands |
32 |
|
Northridge |
17 |
|
Pomona |
55 |
|
Sacramento |
40 |
|
San Diego |
10 |
|
San Jose |
193 |
|
San Luis Obispo |
50 |
|
Stanislaus |
20 |
|
Total |
556 |
|
Number of campuses |
12 |
The agreement with UC Berkeley began on September 22 and the table shows access through August 22, so it represents 11 months of usage. We expect that usage for the first contract year will increase during the last month of the current contract.
Student Research Conference
The SSRIC sponsors an annual student research conference for both undergraduates and graduates where students can present their research in a supportive setting. For many students, this is their first opportunity to present their research at a professional conference. The 2005 conference was held in Fresno with 30 student presentations from 15 CSU campuses representing 14 disciplines. The 2006 conference will be in Northridge on May 4 th.
The following chart shows the number of student presentations by campus at the 2005 conference.
|
Number of Student Presentations |
|
|
Campus |
Number |
|
Bakersfield |
4 |
|
East Bay |
5 |
|
Fresno |
4 |
|
Fullerton |
1 |
|
Humboldt |
1 |
|
Los Angeles |
2 |
|
Monterey Bay |
1 |
|
Northridge |
1 |
|
Pomona |
1 |
|
Sacramento |
1 |
|
San Bernardino |
1 |
|
San Diego |
1 |
|
San Francisco |
5 |
|
San Luis Obispo |
1 |
|
San Marcos |
1 |
|
Total |
30 |
|
Number of campuses |
15 |
Training Workshops
Volunteer SSRIC representatives led five training workshops on five campuses during academic 04-05. These workshops are intended to promote the use of data and teaching modules and to instruct participants in how to access these resources. Most of those attending were faculty although there were some graduate students.
The table below shows campuses, dates and attendance:
|
Campus |
Date |
Attendance |
|
San Jose |
October 28, 2004 |
18 |
|
Bakersfield |
January 29, 2005 |
10 |
|
Pomona |
February 25, 2005 |
14 |
|
Stanislaus |
February 26, 2005 |
14 |
|
Monterey Bay |
April 22, 2005 |
5 |
|
Northridge |
May 6, 2005 |
10 |
|
Total |
71 |
SSRIC Website
The new SSRIC Web site is now online at www.ssric.org. The site consolidates and expands on information previously scattered on servers at the Bakersfield, Los Angeles, and Pomona campuses. The new site will make it much easier to communicate information about resources, events, and services provided to students, faculty, and staff through the Council. While some features are still in the process of being implemented, the site offers or will soon offer, among other things:
- Announcements of upcoming events
- A contact list of Council representatives from each campus
- A newsletter for research oriented social science faculty throughout the CSU
- Comprehensive information about the annual SSRIC Student Research Conference
- Instructions for ordering ICPSR, Field, and Roper data
- Information about the Field Fellowship and Question Credits program, and the Penny Crane Internship at Field
- Information about the ICPSR Summer Program
- Curriculum materials contained in the SSRIC Teaching Resources Depository, including various modules and exercises, an SPSS primer, and an online textbook/Web site on research methods.
