Question
On the Stats Can homepage, there used to be a link to a nifty webpage called "Business Data". This page is now at: http://commerce.statcan.ca/english/commerce
but there's no way I can find it via the homepage. Could this be rectified?
Answer
This portal is no longer supported by Statistics Canada and has not been updated in ages (as you can see, the population counts are from April 2006).
Although it was a very handy tool, it will not reappear in the web site redesign.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
IALSS Variables
Question
In IALSS, there are variables PLEV1, PLEV2, PLEV3, PLEV4, PLEV5. I understand the literacy scale used for these variables - as explained in 4.1 of the user guide - but what I can't seem to dig out is what exactly these 5 different variables are - different questions/problems? Why are there 5?
Answer
The various questions show the level of success that they had on the questions of that difficulty level - the questionnaire asked questions of five different levels of difficulty. In the data file, if they have a 5 in PLEV1, they scored between 376 and 500 (highest) on the questions of difficulty level 1, while a 3 in PLEV4 would mean that the scored between 301 and 350 on questions of difficulty level 4.
IDLS shows the range of scores for the various questions (and not just level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, as in in the codebook).
In IALSS, there are variables PLEV1, PLEV2, PLEV3, PLEV4, PLEV5. I understand the literacy scale used for these variables - as explained in 4.1 of the user guide - but what I can't seem to dig out is what exactly these 5 different variables are - different questions/problems? Why are there 5?
Answer
The various questions show the level of success that they had on the questions of that difficulty level - the questionnaire asked questions of five different levels of difficulty. In the data file, if they have a 5 in PLEV1, they scored between 376 and 500 (highest) on the questions of difficulty level 1, while a 3 in PLEV4 would mean that the scored between 301 and 350 on questions of difficulty level 4.
IDLS shows the range of scores for the various questions (and not just level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, as in in the codebook).
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Electric Power Selling Price Index
Question
A patron is looking for the electric power selling price index. Table 329-0050 covers the period from 1981-2006 but she would
like data from 1960-1980. I tried the concordance in CHASS, hoping to find an earlier table/matrix, but couldn't find one. Any suggestions?
Answer
There seem to be two more tables that may contain data you are looking for: 329-0024 and 329-0013. In the multidimensional CANSIM @ CHASS go to Text Search, type: "electric power" then scroll down until you find your 329-0050 table and look at the two that are listed just above it.
A patron is looking for the electric power selling price index. Table 329-0050 covers the period from 1981-2006 but she would
like data from 1960-1980. I tried the concordance in CHASS, hoping to find an earlier table/matrix, but couldn't find one. Any suggestions?
Answer
There seem to be two more tables that may contain data you are looking for: 329-0024 and 329-0013. In the multidimensional CANSIM @ CHASS go to Text Search, type: "electric power" then scroll down until you find your 329-0050 table and look at the two that are listed just above it.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Aboriginal people and health statistics by CT
Question
A researcher needs data at the CT level (Regina) for aboriginal health variables. At one point, I was hoping to utilize postal codes but have given up on this and have since wondered whether we should be using GeoSuite.
I think the problem, or one of them, is that the CCHS has the types of information she is looking for, i.e. depression, low self-esteem, on social assistance, etc. but this cannot be analyzed at a CT or even a CMA. Another problem is that the variable for race is either white or other. (I know there will be a listing of what health regions bought optional content but haven't found it yet. Any hints on this would be helpful though even if Regina-Qu'appelle bought into it the geography is too large.)
Answer
1 - GeoSuite only provides population and dwelling counts (as well as other nifty tools to identify the relationships within geographies - e.g., listing all the Das in a province, etc.). The product will not give you any demographic information.
2- CCHS will not release anything below the Health Region level - nothing at CT available at all.
3- Aboriginal People's profile is a special cross-tab from the Census. The Census does not ask questions about health (see Census long-form for questionnaire). It collects basic demographic information about language, education, income, etc.
4- The 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey did collect information about health (but very little) but the off-reserve sample is quite small, which means that CT level data is unavailable.
5- Any other survey that would have collected data on health would not be as specific as to ask for aboriginal identity (more than likely) and the fact that it would be a survey would make the size of the sample so small that it could not report at the CT level.
Therefore, there is really nothing that I can suggest to find this data. It is very detailed and more than likely unavailable through Statistics Canada.
A researcher needs data at the CT level (Regina) for aboriginal health variables. At one point, I was hoping to utilize postal codes but have given up on this and have since wondered whether we should be using GeoSuite.
I think the problem, or one of them, is that the CCHS has the types of information she is looking for, i.e. depression, low self-esteem, on social assistance, etc. but this cannot be analyzed at a CT or even a CMA. Another problem is that the variable for race is either white or other. (I know there will be a listing of what health regions bought optional content but haven't found it yet. Any hints on this would be helpful though even if Regina-Qu'appelle bought into it the geography is too large.)
Answer
1 - GeoSuite only provides population and dwelling counts (as well as other nifty tools to identify the relationships within geographies - e.g., listing all the Das in a province, etc.). The product will not give you any demographic information.
2- CCHS will not release anything below the Health Region level - nothing at CT available at all.
3- Aboriginal People's profile is a special cross-tab from the Census. The Census does not ask questions about health (see Census long-form for questionnaire). It collects basic demographic information about language, education, income, etc.
4- The 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey did collect information about health (but very little) but the off-reserve sample is quite small, which means that CT level data is unavailable.
5- Any other survey that would have collected data on health would not be as specific as to ask for aboriginal identity (more than likely) and the fact that it would be a survey would make the size of the sample so small that it could not report at the CT level.
Therefore, there is really nothing that I can suggest to find this data. It is very detailed and more than likely unavailable through Statistics Canada.
Post-Secondary Education Data
Question
I have a faculty member who would like the some of the Statistics Canada data that is in CAUT's Almanac of Post-Secondary Education 2006: http://www.caut.ca/en/publications/almanac/default.asp.
They have 2003/04 data in this issue; he would like more recent, if possible. He is specifically interested in the data in tables 4.6, 4.5, and 2.12.
Answer
When I visited the site in question, I noticed that the most recent data is 2004/2005 - which is the most recent information available at Statistics Canada as well.
You may need to do a little digging, but these tables could conceivably be reconstructed using the data we have listed under Education
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/education.htm)
This collection is very recent for the DLI. The division has been very generous in sharing this data with us as it is not a standard product. They also have a very neat system within the Excel sheet - it has a similar function to Beyond 20/20 in that pivot tables are available.
I have a faculty member who would like the some of the Statistics Canada data that is in CAUT's Almanac of Post-Secondary Education 2006: http://www.caut.ca/en/publications/almanac/default.asp.
They have 2003/04 data in this issue; he would like more recent, if possible. He is specifically interested in the data in tables 4.6, 4.5, and 2.12.
Answer
When I visited the site in question, I noticed that the most recent data is 2004/2005 - which is the most recent information available at Statistics Canada as well.
You may need to do a little digging, but these tables could conceivably be reconstructed using the data we have listed under Education
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/Data/Ftp/education.htm)
This collection is very recent for the DLI. The division has been very generous in sharing this data with us as it is not a standard product. They also have a very neat system within the Excel sheet - it has a similar function to Beyond 20/20 in that pivot tables are available.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
DLI Update Volume 10 #1
DLI just released a new DLI Update (Volume 10, issue 1). You can retrieve the DLI Update from the following web address: http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/update.htm
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Data Standards Article in D-Lib Magazine
D-Lib Magazine
March/April 2007
Volume 13 Number 3/4
ISSN 1082-9873
A Proposed Standard for the Scholarly Citation of Quantitative Data
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march07/altman/03altman.html
Micah Altman
Associate Director, Harvard-MIT Data Center and
Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Center for Government and International Studies
Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138
Gary King
David Florence Professor of Government, Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138
Abstract
An essential aspect of science is a community of scholars cooperating and competing in the pursuit of common goals. A critical component of this community is the common language of and the universal standards for scholarly citation, credit attribution, and the location and retrieval of articles and books. We propose a similar universal standard for citing quantitative data that retains the advantages of print citations, adds other components made possible by, and needed due to, the digital form and systematic nature of quantitative data sets, and is consistent with most existing subfield-specific approaches. Although the digital library field includes numerous creative ideas, we limit ourselves to only those elements that appear ready for easy practical use by scientists, journal editors, publishers, librarians, and archivists.
March/April 2007
Volume 13 Number 3/4
ISSN 1082-9873
A Proposed Standard for the Scholarly Citation of Quantitative Data
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march07/altman/03altman.html
Micah Altman
Associate Director, Harvard-MIT Data Center and
Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Center for Government and International Studies
Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138
Gary King
David Florence Professor of Government, Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138
Abstract
An essential aspect of science is a community of scholars cooperating and competing in the pursuit of common goals. A critical component of this community is the common language of and the universal standards for scholarly citation, credit attribution, and the location and retrieval of articles and books. We propose a similar universal standard for citing quantitative data that retains the advantages of print citations, adds other components made possible by, and needed due to, the digital form and systematic nature of quantitative data sets, and is consistent with most existing subfield-specific approaches. Although the digital library field includes numerous creative ideas, we limit ourselves to only those elements that appear ready for easy practical use by scientists, journal editors, publishers, librarians, and archivists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)