2014-2015 Annual Usage and Service Report

2014-2015 Annual Usage and Service Report

July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Data
  3. ICPSR
  4. Roper
  5. Field
  6. Student Research Conference
  7. Website

Introduction

Founded in 1972, the Social Science Research and Instructional Council (SSRIC) is the oldest of the affinity groups 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 Social Science Student Symposium (S4)
  • 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

Data

The SSRIC is the CSU systems’ clearinghouse for social science data, notably data from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), The Field Institute, and the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. These 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.

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. Data access is online and interactive under the ICPSR Direct system. The following table summarizes utilization by campus from 2006-07 through 2014-15. 

During academic year 2014-15, 9,888 datasets (731.3 gigabytes of data) were downloaded from ICPSR by CSU students, faculty, and staff. These totals represent a substantial increase in usage from the prior year, which represents the low point in the series. This ended three straight years of decline which may have been due in part to a decline in the number of data base workshops provided to campuses by the SSRIC. This decline is, in turn, the result of a near zeroing out of the Council’s travel budget. The growth was a notable “return to form” for some of the larger campuses (Fullerton, Long Beach & Northridge), which offset declines at other large or medium campuses (notably Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego).

In addition, 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 Consortium for Political and Social Research

Total Data Sets Downloaded

 Campus

06-07

07-08

08-09

09-10

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-15

Bakersfield

247

613

737

124

2,429

1,221

377

138

393

Channel Islands

212

61

129

122

11

55

11

45

26

Chico

317

335

516

556

350

398

324

392

375

Dominguez Hills

13

15

14

19

16

3

2

340

34

East Bay

298

289

512

460

231

92

27

7

138

Fresno

182

436

99

69

248

187

167

445

1,135

Fullerton

729

290

724

755

1,109

1,342

245

1,061

1,649

Humboldt

140

75

124

335

160

436

61

37

123

Long Beach

870

942

927

1,736

664

482

1,040

1,664

1,234

Los Angeles

286

534

346

1,335

441

448

105

27

130

Monterey Bay

975

38

5

16

81

142

60

0

6

Northridge

147

1,114

2,955

6,490

1,597

2,276

682

2,676

1,123

Pomona

275

258

525

246

354

73

258

521

8

Sacramento

451

621

653

1,170

891

1,289

521

380

309

San Bernardino

201

6

42

575

873

247

54

95

32

San Diego

640

325

612

1,816

1,749

1,012

910

271

539

San Francisco

704

229

1,130

71

387

287

161

106

1,643

San Jose

380

*

*

119

164

221

33

58

84

San Luis Obispo

370

386

361

35

2

232

165

59

256

San Marcos

70

103

187

350

302

542

103

83

534

Sonoma

39

160

36

54

400

71

36

53

30

Stanislaus

413

573

72

333

2,906

187

182

306

87

Total

7,959

7,403

10,706

16,786

15,365

11,243

5,524

8,764

9,888

*San Jose did not subscribe in AY 2007-08 and 2008-09 

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

Total Gigabytes Downloaded

 Campus

06-07

07-08

08-09

09-10

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-15

Bakersfield

8.3

30.4

3.4

6.4

62.6

18.6

13.9

9.0

75.5

Channel Islands

13.2

0.8

13.3

28.2

0.4

81.0

1.8

20.6

5.5

Chico

5.5

27.9

27.5

23.7

22.2

30.6

30.4

38.7

43.0

Dominguez Hills

2.1

0.4

0.6

0.5

1.8

0.8

0.2

9.9

6.0

East Bay

21.5

7.6

14.4

28.7

3.6

5.5

2.2

0.7

3.7

Fresno

13.1

5.4

1.4

4.8

9.0

18.7

14.0

22.7

132.7

Fullerton

22.1

7.4

31.1

13.5

19.8

50.0

21.9

133.8

75.5

Humboldt

5.1

1.2

3.2

18.2

4.2

7.5

4.2

1.4

3.4

Long Beach

41.2

22.5

39.2

51.2

43.8

20.4

65.7

90.1

84.9

Los Angeles

19.3

14.9

5.7

60.8

11.6

14.1

44.4

1.3

21.6

Monterey Bay

17.5

3.0

0.0

0.8

5.9

20.2

2.4

0.0

0.0

Northridge

3.9

28.3

245.6

207.7

64.0

100.0

24.6

118.1

76.1

Pomona

3.7

12.2

23.3

2.8

7.6

0.5

87.9

27.6

0.7

Sacramento

14.6

29.9

27.7

94.2

73.7

107.1

40.6

30.2

30.7

San Bernardino

13.5

1.2

0.6

20.0

29.9

15.6

4.7

2.6

1.4

San Diego

16.7

17.7

19.1

57.9

36.7

82.5

78.2

17.2

52.9

San Francisco

37.5

28.8

9.5

54.3

41.9

9.2

3.9

10.4

46.1

San Jose

8.2

*

*

28.3

10.1

52.3

4.5

3.6

5.5

San Luis Obispo

9.8

25.6

18.7

5.1

0.1

16.0

4.8

2.2

22.3

San Marcos

1.6

3.4

21.2

54.0

28.9

26.6

16.0

20.1

41.0

Sonoma

3.4

18.0

2.3

9.4

37.4

2.8

2.5

1.4

1.5

Stanislaus

8.7

9.8

0.8

4.6

91.2

5.4

16.6

7.1

1.5

Total

290.6

296.5

508.7

774.9

606.4

685.4

485.2

568.7

731.3

*San Jose did not subscribe in AY 2007-08 and 2008-09

   

ICPSR maintains a series of topical archives that allow the user to analyze data using the SDA which was written at UC Berkeley.  SDA is an online program that allows individuals to access particular studies that have been set up for this program. The table below shows the number of times that SDA data files in the ICPSR were accessed by CSU campuses.  With the exception of the 2011-12 academic year, SDA use continues to slowly grow, with 2014-15 having the second highest usage in the series.

Fiscal year

Number of datasets accessed

2006-07

1,369

2007-08 

1,310

2008-09

1,454

2009-10

1,501

2010-11

1,311

2011-12

2,611

2012-13

1,531

2013-14

1,687

2014-15

1,845

ICPSR also offers an extensive summer program in quantitative analysis.  The following table summarizes the number of faculty and students that were enrolled in the ICPSR’s summer program from 2006 through 2015.  The number enrolling in 2015 was the the highest since 2009.

Summer

Number of enrollees

2006

7

2007

2

2008

7

2009

14

2010

9

2011

7

2012

9

2013

12

2014

10

2015

14

Roper Center for Public Opinion

The Roper Center provides public opinion data for the nation and the world. 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 point of contact.  Starting in October, 2005, CSU students, faculty, and staff could download Roper data directly to their desktop through RoperExpress (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 through 2014-15 by CSU students, faculty, and staff. In 2014-15, 1,106 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.  The table also reports the number of times that students, faculty, and staff used iPOLL.   In 2014-15, iPOLL was accessed 855 times.  In 2014-15 dataset usage was at its highest point since joining the Roper Center.

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

                             Datasets Downloaded

iPOLL Accesses

Campus

06-
07

07-
08

08-
09

09-
10

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-
15

06-
07

07-
08

08-
09

09-
10

10-
11

11-
12

12-13

13-
14

14-
15

Bakersfield

29

14

57

64

44

55

102

5

1

25

6

31

24

40

12

30

4

0

Channel Islands

0

3

4

6

41

0

0

0

0

1

10

17

9

3

1

0

0

0

Chico

15

0

36

3

21

0

12

2

5

10

3

74

4

13

145

0

33

0

Dominguez Hills

2

21

444

362

483

361

143

44

13

65

57

427

443

342

662

5

12

13

East Bay

13

2

2

2

3

0

0

0

0

15

3

2

1

1

16

0

0

0

Fresno

8

9

2

37

16

3

38

260

677

19

18

10

52

13

12

9

77

587

Fullerton

40

13

53

11

30

7

0

0

4

41

21

59

22

21

35

26

11

2

Humboldt

8

18

10

5

39

5

8

0

1

19

21

8

16

24

12

0

0

0

Long Beach

21

64

4

6

0

0

27

42

4

32

37

22

17

4

355

14

9

13

Los Angeles

9

2

0

1

0

1

3

48

1

29

1

0

3

0

259

7

17

0

Monterey Bay

1

6

0

0

0

0

5

2

0

1

16

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Northridge

4

7

2

0

14

38

31

6

1

8

28

5

11

8

808

13

0

7

Pomona

3

3

9

12

12

0

5

28

1

6

40

23

23

9

10

0

19

7

Sacramento

20

1

4

4

22

4

6

0

1

31

3

7

24

8

4

0

0

0

San Bernardino

12

0

3

17

4

0

0

1

11

18

0

1

23

46

93

10

0

4

San Diego

89

11

15

7

27

8

22

2

2

84

19

7

10

15

44

0

0

25

San Francisco

6

40

4

6

66

0

8

0

54

4

51

5

3

8

4

0

0

0

San Jose

5

*

*

0

3

12

0

2

13

53

*

*

9

9

469

2

0

0

San Luis Obispo

17

0

7

4

0

0

10

22

10

17

0

1

6

30

434

1

9

11

San Marcos

0

0

0

2

0

7

0

4

0

1

4

0

2

0

95

0

0

0

Sonoma

18

30

4

0

0

18

10

0

0

9

46

4

1

1

254

24

0

185

Stanislaus

12

4

2

0

5

0

31

382

307

17

15

6

0

3

0

0

2

1

Unknown

0

0

0

7

42

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

17

27

0

0

0

0

Total

332

248

662

556

872

519

461

850

1,106

505

399

710

720

625

3724

141

193

855

The Field Institute

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 public 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 one faculty member with the opportunity to place 12 questions per year on a Field Poll.

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. The table below shows the number of times that a person logged onto the Field archive to look for or download data for the 2005-06 through 2014-15 academic years.  During academic year 2014-15, 2,063 Field data sets were accessed. This represented an increase from recent years, and most activity was concentrated at just a few campuses.

The Field Institute 

Campus

05-06

06-07

07-08

08-09

09-10

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-15

Bakersfield

293

0

0

0

1

0

0

70

0

0

Channel Islands

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

Chico

401

1268

519

361

232

78

153

115

184

120

Dominguez Hills

317

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

East Bay

4

32

0

18

18

0

1

0

25

0

Fresno

78

11

70

28

48

19

13

12

110

1,179

Fullerton

0

0

0

0

0

255

34

0

0

0

Humboldt

333

394

385

449

181

337

211

23

3

0

Long Beach

1

256

11

0

0

1

1

1

0

16

Los Angeles

9

273

150

0

0

0

9

0

0

0

Monterey Bay

69

97

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

Northridge

0

23

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

1

Pomona

513

366

268

96

37

40

33

0

115

0

Sacramento

457

525

72

23

158

40

28

1

36

4

San Bernardino

1

78

1

0

37

3

2

0

0

0

San Diego

6

122

2

6

4

0

0

0

13

13

San Francisco

47

105

375

3

156

75

49

116

10

130

San Jose

0

0

*

*

0

65

500

21

0

0

San Luis Obispo

65

83

13

0

51

93

34

0

0

0

San Marcos

135

5

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Sonoma

28

1

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Stanislaus

0

70

207

0

0

0

14

0

0

0

Unknown campus

105

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

Total

2862

3709

2076

984

926

1010

1082

360

496

1,463

*San Jose did not subscribe in AY 2007-08 and 2008-09

   

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 2014 conference was held at Fullerton with 79 presentations from 16 participating campuses.  The 2015 conference was held Sacramento with 72 presentations from 16 participating campuses.  The following table summarizes student research conference activity for the years 2007-2015.  

Student Research Conference

Year

Host Campus

Student Presentations

CSU Campuses Participating

2007

Northridge

36

13

2008

Long Beach

47

8

2009

Sacramento

43

12

2010

Pomona

33

9

2011

San Jose

14

4

2012

Los Angeles

52

9

2013

San Francisco

28

10

2014

Fullerton

79

16

2015

Sacramento

72

16

*approximate

Website

The SSRIC Web site is online at 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:

  • Announcements of upcoming events
  • A contact list of Council representatives from each campus
  • Information for research-oriented social science faculty throughout the CSU
  • Comprehensive information about the annual Social Science Student Symposium (S4)
  • Instructions for downloading ICPSR, Field, and Roper data
  • Information about the Field Fellowship program
  • Information about the ICPSR Summer Program
  • Curriculum materials contained in the SSRIC Teaching Resources, including various modules and exercises and an SPSS primer for versions 19 and 22.
  • Curriculum materials contained in POWERMUTT, an online text for teaching research methods in political science and cognate disciplines.
  • Links to various sites that have useful research information.