2010-2011
Annual Report
The
California State University Social Sciences Research and Instructional Council
(SSRIC)
The SSRIC is
composed of representatives from each of the CSU campuses. Its overall
objective is to support faculty, staff and student research and teaching in all
social science disciplines. It does this by:
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Working
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> with the Chancellor’s office to
ensure continued system-wide access to social science
databases
·
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Developing
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> instructional materials and making
them available on the Council’s website (
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>www.ssric.org
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>)
·
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Initiating and conducting workshops
on how to access and use quantitative data from the aforementioned sources
·
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Supporting
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> faculty research by facilitating access
to ICPSR training and the use of the Field poll for research
·
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Providing
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> a forum for sharing information
about using data in research and teaching
·
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Sponsoring
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> an annual student research
conference
COUNCIL
ACTIVITIES
Databases
The databases
the CSU subscribes to include the:
·
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Inter-University Consortium for
Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Founded in 1962, the Consortium
houses data from over 600 studies representing over
60,000 datasets. These data are made available to member institutions such as
the CSU
·
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:135%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Roper Center for Public Opinion
Research at the University of Connecticut. Founded in 1947, the Center houses the world’s largest
archive of survey data.
·
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The Field Institute in San Francisco
is an independent, nonpartisan public opinion news service that has operated
since 1947. It has issued over 2300 different reports based on its polls of
California residents.
In 2010-11, the
SSRIC generated over $190,000 by soliciting subscriptions from each CSU campus
(except the Maritime Academy) and garnering additional support from the
Chancellor’s office to maintain access to these databases. The consolidation of
membership in these organizations, facilitated by the SSRIC, represents a
considerable savings (over $121,000 or 40%) to faculty and campuses that would
otherwise have to subscribe individually. Students, faculty and staff are able
to download data, codebooks, and other material directly to their computers as
a result of this access.
Instructional
Materials and Workshops
SSRIC also
makes available instructional material via its website. These include two
online textbooks, instructional modules and exercises, and instructional
handouts. Continuing this year, SSRIC representatives have been working with
Andrew Roderick (SFSU Academic Computing) to continue to update some of these
modules, particularly by exploring new ways of delivering workshop content
online.
The Council
also offers free workshops at any campus where faculty have expressed an
interest in learning how to access and analyze quantitative data from ICPSR,
Roper and Field, and using SDA. Workshops are also provided on the use of
SPSS for data analysis. In 2010-11, ten workshops were conducted on three
campuses (see table), providing instruction to approximately 150 faculty,
staff, and students.
Workshops: Academic
Year 2010-11
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Campus
Date
Attendees
Type of Workshop
Fresno
Sept. 24
8
Teaching with Data
Fresno
Nov. 1
8
Data in the Classroom
Fresno
March 14
2
SDA
Dominguez Hills
April 15
12
SSDB
Fresno
May 3
35
SPSS and Databases for Nursing
Humboldt
May 6
22
SSDB
Humboldt
May 6
27
Intro. SPSS
Fresno
May 11
5
Databases for Psychology
Fresno
June 29
n/a
SPSS and Databases for Nursing
Fresno
June 30
28
SPSS for Nursing
Faculty
Research
For the summer
of 2011, the ICPSR made available support for one CSU faculty and/or students
to attend its summer session. Faculty and students are invited to
compete for this support by submitting their resume and a statement about what
training they intend to pursue and how it will support their research and/or
teaching. This year one faculty member (from Fresno) was awarded a fee/tuition
waiver.
Each year the
Field Poll provides SSRIC with the opportunity to award CSU faculty with a
fellowship that includes credit for a limited number of items to be included on
an upcoming Field poll. Applicants submit RFPs
and a committee chooses from among them. This year, Jennifer Murphy of
CSU Sacramento (Sociology) was awarded the fellowship for her proposal titled “Do
Attitudes toward Addiction Predict Attitudes toward Drug Policy?”
Forums for
Sharing Information
The Council met
three times in the 2010-11 academic year; in October
at CSU Sacramento, in February at CSU Channel Islands, and in April at San Jose
State. In response to a request from the Chancellor’s office for the
Council to look for ways to cut its budget, there was no travel reimbursement
for council members (as has been the case for the past several years. Some
members participated in the meetings virtually using Elluminate
software, while others from nearby campuses attended in person.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Despite the lack of travel support,
attendance at the meetings was good as many representatives were willing to look
elsewhere for funding or attend at their own expense.
Student
Research Conference
The SSRIC hosted its 35th
annual student research conference at San Jose State on April 29, 2011. Fourteen
students from four campuses (San Jose, Sacramento, Monterey Bay, and LA)
presented research in a variety of social science disciplines. The
following students were presented with awards for outstanding presentations:
- Samantha Paine (Antropology,
San Jose State University). TheCharles McCall
Award for Best Undergraduate Paper, "An
Ethnography of Water Birth and Its Representations on
YouTube.com."
- Juan Pablo Mercado (Mexican American
Studies, San Jose State University). The Betty Nesvold
Award for Best Graduate Paper, "Re-visioning the Mexican American
Experience in World War II."
Structure and Governance
Officers
and Chairs
The officers and
committee chairs for the 2010-11 year consisted of the following:
Chair: Greg
Bohr (San Luis Obispo)
Executive
Committee: John Korey (Pomona), Ed Nelson
(Fresno), Lori Weber (Chico), Josh Meisel (Humboldt)
Field
committee: Ed Nelson (Fresno)
ICPSR summer
stipend: Greg Bohr (San Luis Obispo)
TRD: Gene
Turner (Northridge)
Student
conference: Rich Taketa (San Jose)
Chair-elect:
Josh Meisel (Humboldt)
The SSRIC has
also been actively involved in governance at ICPSR. Lori Weber is completing a
term on the ICPSR’s 11-member governing council, and other SSRIC members have
served there in the past. SSRIC representatives have also been active
members of ICPSR’s undergraduate research paper competition review
committee. Within the CSU, Ed Nelson (Fresno) has a leading role in
the relatively new Consortium of Applied Social
Science Research Centers (CASSRC).
2010-11 Business
Meetings and Student Conference
Fall: October 2010, East Bay
Winter: February, 2011, LA
Spring Meeting and Student
Conference: April 2011, San Jose
