Myron Guttman
Director of ICPSR

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

ICPSR is the world's largest archive of digital social science data. We acquire, curate, preserve, and distribute original social science data for research and instruction. Currently we archive more than 7,000 data collections, and we add 400 to 500 new collections each year. Our membership has grown from 21 founding institutions in 1962 to nearly 700 educational and research institutions worldwide today.

Our Services and Activities

Data Archive

• ICPSR distributes many of the nation's preeminent ongoing studies in political science, sociology, criminology, gerontology, international relations, economics, public health, and education, as well as U.S. Census data extending to 1790 and historical election returns. Our extensive bibliography links ICPSR data to the tens of thousands of research publications based on them.
• As one of the major distributors of social science data, ICPSR reviews data for disclosure risk and modifies them if necessary to preserve respondent confidentiality. Disseminating data files through various modes of access, we are able to provide information of the greatest scientific value to the largest number of users while protecting the privacy of human subjects.
• An international leader in digital curation, ICPSR adds value to data, making them easier to use and obtain. We take a standards-based approach to digital preservation, protecting our data resources for future generations. We have more than four decades of experience preserving social science digital content, during a time of rapid technological change.
• ICPSR encourages the use of data for instruction. Our Online Learning Center (OLC) classroom-ready datasets with instructional materials, and online analysis software help make quantitative analysis accessible to undergraduates and other users.

User Support

• Our well-trained staff provides user support to faculty, students, researchers, and policymakers. We offer efficient search tools, analysis-ready data in multiple software formats, and online data analysis tools that allow users to analyze data without downloading files or using specialized statistical software.

Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research

• The ICPSR Summer Program is widely recognized throughout the social science community as the premier program for training in research design, statistics, data analysis, and methodology. The Program attracts more than 800 scholars each summer, representing about 25 academic disciplines from more than 200 colleges, universities, and organizations throughout the world.
• Our courses cover a wide range of topics, from introductory-level material on basic mathematics and computing skills, through methodologies for regression analysis and time-series models, to advanced, cutting-edge topics such as causal inference strategies and Bayesian approaches to statistical models.
• Our faculty consist of approximately 50 instructors from a variety of academic disciplines. The instructional staff is known not only for its methodological expertise, but also for the high quality of its pedagogy. Several instructors have won teaching awards and a number of them have made major contributions to the fields that they teach.

Research and Leadership

• ICPSR has expanded its research efforts into the emerging field of data science. Our research programs include digital preservation, digital curation, and protection of research subjects, as well as social science research in areas such as criminology, aging, and historical demography.
• ICPSR serves as a leader in the international data archiving community. We promote data sharing and participate with colleagues around the world in promulgating social science metadata standards and best practice across the research data life cycle from the start of a research project through data dissemination and analysis. ICPSR hosts the Digital Preservation Management workshop and tutorial, an internationally known continuing education curriculum.