Data

The University of Alberta Library provides access to quantitative computer-readable research data from various disciplines in the social, humanities, health, physical, and life sciences.  Library staff provide assistance with the location, retrieval, and use of data files in the Library collection, as well as assistance with the acquisition of data files held elsewhere. The Library also provides resources related to Research Data Management.

MICRODATA comprise of  information on each individual, household, business, etc., responding to a survey, with codes (usually numbers) representing the response to each question asked. 

AGGREGATE DATA are summary-level data, the result of applying statistical analyses to microdata. Aggregate data are commonly referred to interchangeably with the term ‘statistics’. Aggregate data are often in the form of TABULATIONS, or statistics presented in table format.

TIME SERIES  are observations of the same variable (e.g., unemployment rate) made over time, usually at a regular interval such as weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.

MEDIATED-ACCESS DATA are password-protected and must be accessed with the assistance of  Library staff. Data files may be restricted to use by current University of Alberta students, faculty and staff, and are for non-commercial use only.

DATA SOFTWARE may be required when viewing or working with data accessed through the Library.