2007-2008 Social
Sciences Specialty Center
(SSSC) Annual Report
July
1, 2007 to June 30, 2008
Table
of Contents
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Introduction
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Data
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>ICPSR
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Roper
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Field
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Student
Research Conference - style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Workshops
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Web
site
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:
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Facilitating access to social science data and
computer-related instructional and research materials -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Promoting quantitative social science research by
students via the annual SSRIC student research conference - style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Initiating and conducting training programs
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Recommending computerized social science projects in
the CSU curriculum -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Providing a forum for sharing information about social
science data and computer products -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>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, staff 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.
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
.
Over the past few years, data access from the ICPSR has gone online and
interactive under the ICPSR Direct system. During academic year 07-08, 5,062
datasets were downloaded from ICPSR by CSU students, faculty, and staff.
Additionally, 296.551 gigabytes of data were downloaded. The following
table summarizes utilization by campus for the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 academic
years.
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.
Inter-university |
||||
Campus |
Data |
Gigabytes |
||
2006-07 |
2007-08 |
2006-07 |
2007-08 |
|
|
247 |
613 |
8.337 |
30.391 |
|
212 |
61 |
13.223 |
0.784 |
|
317 |
335 |
5.486 |
27.941 |
Dominguez Hills |
13 |
15 |
2.133 |
.442 |
|
298 |
289 |
21.480 |
7.568 |
|
182 |
436 |
13.134 |
5.427 |
|
729 |
290 |
22.124 |
7.443 |
Humboldt |
140 |
75 |
5.147 |
1.226 |
|
870 |
942 |
41.188 |
22.476 |
|
286 |
534 |
19.292 |
14.893 |
|
975 |
38 |
17.538 |
3.040 |
Northridge |
147 |
1,114 |
3.943 |
28.327 |
|
275 |
258 |
3.732 |
12.215 |
|
451 |
621 |
14.596 |
29.852 |
|
201 |
6 |
13.451 |
1.240 |
|
640 |
325 |
16.661 |
17.647 |
|
704 |
229 |
37.511 |
28.819 |
|
380 |
8* |
8.166 |
0.040 |
|
370 |
386 |
9.754 |
25.600 |
|
70 |
103 |
1.574 |
3.384 |
|
39 |
160 |
3.420 |
18.025 |
Stanislaus |
413 |
573 |
8.721 |
9.770 |
Total |
7,959 |
5,062 |
290.612 |
296.551 |
*
San Jose
did not subscribe in AY 2007-08.
ICPSR maintains a series of topical archives that allow the user to analyze
data using the Data Analysis System (DAS) which was written at UC
Berkeley. DAS is an online program that allows individuals to access
particular studies that have been set up for this program. Information is only
available for the system and is not broken down by campus.
Fiscal year |
Number |
||
2006-07 |
1,369 |
||
|
1,310 |
ICPSR also offers an extensive
summer program in quantitative analysis. Our membership in ICPSR allows
us to distribute $3,000 in travel funds to participants in the summer program
to help defray their costs. The following table summarizes the number of
faculty and students (primarily faculty) that were enrolled in the ICPSR’s
summer program in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Summer |
Number |
2006 |
7 |
2007 |
2 |
2008 |
7 |
Roper
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>
Center
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 established a system
wide membership in the
Roper
Center in October,
2004. From October, 2004 through September, 2005 the CSU was limited
to 50 data sets per year and data had to be ordered through one
individual. Starting in October, 2005, CSU students, faculty, and staff
could download Roper data directly to their desktop through Roper Express
(similar to ICPSR Direct). This resulted in a large increase in
utilization of Roper data.
The following table summarizes the
number of data sets that were downloaded from the
Roper
Center
archive during 2006-07 and 2007-08. During academic 06-07, 332 datasets
were downloaded from the
Roper
Center by CSU students,
faculty, and staff. During academic year, 249 datasets were downloaded. The
Roper
Center
also offers iPOLL which is a data base of survey
questions which can be used for trend analysis and to select data sets for
downloading. This table also reports the number of times that students,
faculty, and staff used iPOLL. During academic
year 07-08, students, faculty, and staff accessed iPOLL 412 times, while during 06-07 iPOLL was accessed 505
times. The following table summarizes utilization by campus for the 2006-07
and the 2007-08 academic years.
|
||||
Campus |
Data |
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>iPOLL Sessions |
||
2006-07 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
2006-07 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>2007-08 |
|
|
29 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
25 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>6 |
|
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
1 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>10 |
|
15 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
10 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>3 |
Dominguez Hills |
2 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
65 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>57 |
|
13 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
15 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>3 |
|
8 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
19 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>18 |
|
40 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
41 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>21 |
Humboldt |
8 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
19 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>21 |
|
21 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
32 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>37 |
|
9 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
29 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>1 |
|
1 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
1 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>16 |
Northridge |
4 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
8 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>28 |
|
3 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
6 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>40 |
|
20 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
31 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>3 |
|
12 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
18 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>0 |
|
89 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
84 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>19 |
|
6 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
4 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>51 |
|
5 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
53 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>13 |
|
17 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
17 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>0 |
|
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
1 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>4 |
|
18 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
9 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>46 |
Stanislaus |
12 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
17 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>15 |
Total |
332 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
505 |
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial'>412 |
The CSU maintains a membership in
the Field Institute which provides our students, faculty, and staff 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. 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 receive from the Field Institute. The
following table provides information on the number of times that students,
faculty, or staff 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 for
the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 academic years. During academic year
2007-08, 2,076 Field data sets were accessed.
Field |
|||
Campus |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
293 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
0 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
401 |
1268 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Dominguez Hills |
317 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
4 |
32 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
78 |
11 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
0 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Humboldt |
333 |
394 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
1 |
256 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
9 |
273 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
69 |
97 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Northridge |
0 |
23 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
513 |
366 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
457 |
525 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
1 |
78 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
6 |
122 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
47 |
105 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
0 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
65 |
83 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
135 |
5 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
|
28 |
1 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Stanislaus |
0 |
70 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Unknown campus |
105 |
0 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
Total |
2862 |
3709 |
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; |
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 2007 conference was held in Northridge with 36 student presentations from
13 CSU campuses. The 2008 conference was held in
Long Beach with 47 presentations from 8 participating
campuses.
Volunteer SSRIC representatives led
training workshops on seven campuses during the 2007-08 academic
class=GramE>year, with a total of 86 participants. Those campuses
were Channel
Islands,
East
Bay,
San Francisco, Dominguez Hills, Northridge,
Fresno and Stanislaus
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. More workshops are planned on numerous campuses this
coming academic year.
The SSRIC Web site is online at
href="http://www.ssric.org/node/www.ssric.org">www.ssric.org. The site
consolidates and expands information previously scattered on servers at the
Bakersfield,
Los Angeles,
and
Pomona
campuses. The new site makes it much easier to communicate information about
resources, events, and services provided to students, faculty, and staff
through the Council. The site offers among other things:
- style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Announcements of upcoming events
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>A contact list of Council representatives from each
campus -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Information for research oriented social science
faculty throughout the CSU -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Comprehensive information about the annual SSRIC
Student Research Conference - style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Instructions for ordering ICPSR, Field, and Roper data
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Information about the Field Fellowship and Question
Credits program - style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Information about the ICPSR Summer Program
-
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>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 -
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";"Times New Roman"'>Curriculum materials contained in POWERMUTT, an online
text for teaching research methods in political science and cognate
disciplines