Newsletter Number
3, October 2002
This is a
newsletter for academic researchers in the Toronto region using, or
interested in using, Statistics Canada microdata.
The Toronto Region - Statistics Canada RDC is a joint initiative
between the University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson University,
and Statistics Canada.
Contents:
1.
Update on the RDC's first year of operation
2. Upcoming workshops and presentations:
- Presentation
on the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES)
- Presentation
of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID)
- An
introduction to using SAS at the RDC An introduction to using
multi-level models with SAS
3. First Canada-U.S. Conference on Research
Data Centres
4. Request for Applications for CCHS
research projects
5. RDC proposal submission process
6. Contact us
1)Update on the
RDC's first year of operation
We are
approaching the first year anniversary of the Toronto RDC opening.
The past year has been a great success. The number of research
projects at the Toronto RDC has grown from 3 in October 2001 to a total
of 54 in October 2002 involving 86 students and faculty members from
the University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson and other nearby
universities. This is single largest concentration of research at any of
the 9 RDC's across the country.
Our data holdings have grown to include 5 longitudinal surveys: the
National Population Health Survey (NPHS), the National Longitudinal
Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), the Survey of Labour and Income
Dynamics (SLID), the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) and the Youth
in Transition Survey (YITS). We currently have 8 additional
cross-sectional surveys being used by researchers in the RDC including
the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the General Social Survey
(GSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment ( PISA ).
The full RDC complement of 24 workstations and 3 Internet-connect
computers was available by March, 2002. The RDC computers contain a
wide range of statistical software, including SAS, SPSS, STATA, S-PLUS,
LISREL, HLM, MLwiN, SUDAAN and GAUSS.
RDC staff also increased in May to include a second Statistics Canada
Analyst to assist researchers, Veronica Yei. Welcome Veronica!
2) Upcoming
workshops and presentations
a) Presentation on the Workplace and
Employee Survey (WES)
Marie Drolet, Senior Research Economist and WES Research Manager at
Statistics Canada will be coming to the RDC October 24th from 1:30 to
3:30p.m. to discuss research opportunities using the Workplace and
Employee Survey (WES). In this presentation, Marie will discuss the
survey methodology and content of WES, as well as data access
possibilities at both the Toronto RDC and through remote data access.
The RDC currently has WES employer and employee data files for 1999 and
2000.
This presentation is open to anyone who is interested. Please contact
Tina Hotton (416-946-8321) or Veronica Yei (416-946-8105) if you would
like to attend.
b) Presentation on the Survey of
Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID)
Adam Wronski, Chief of Content and Analysis for SLID, and Heather
Lathe, Senior Analyst with Income Statistics Division, will be at the
Toronto RDC the afternoon of Wednesday, December 11 to meet with
current SLID users, and researchers interested in learning more about
the survey. This presentation will be divided into two parts.
Part 1: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Adam and Heather will provide researchers
with a general overview of the survey methodology and content.
Part 2: 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. SLID researchers working at the RDC will
have an opportunity to make brief presentations about their current
research followed by a discussion period. This will enable
researchers to get feedback from others working with SLID on campus as
well as subject matter specialists at Statistics Canada.
This presentation is open to anyone who is interested. Please contact
Tina Hotton (416-946-8321) or Veronica Yei (416-946-8105) if you would
like to attend.
c) An introduction to using SAS at the
RDC
This workshop is meant to help researchers at the RDC acquaint or
re-acquaint themselves to the SAS programming language. In this
workshop, the basics of the SAS programming language will be covered,
including creating variables, reading in raw text files, modifying SAS
data sets, merging SAS data sets, and printing output in useful ways.
As well, slightly more advanced techniques, some general and some more
specific to the RDC will be introduced. These will include dealing
with groups of observations (by-variable processing), simple macro
techniques (such as token replacement and creating re-useable SAS
programs), and techniques specific to the SAS installs at the Toronto
RDC.
This workshop will be held the last week of November and is open to
anyone who is interested, but priority will be given to researchers
working at the Toronto RDC. Please contact Dave Haans (416-946-8106)
if you would like to attend.
d) An introduction to using
multi-level models with SAS
Dr. Blair Wheaton, the Academic Director of the Toronto RDC, will be
offering a workshop on multi-level and growth curve models using SAS.
This workshop will be held the third week of February - details are
forthcoming.
This workshop is open to anyone who is interested, but priority will be
given to researchers working at the Toronto RDC. Please contact Tina
Hotton (416-946-8321) or Veronica Yei (416-946-8105) if you would like
to attend.
3)
American-Canadian Conference on Research Data Centres
The week of
October 28th, Statistics Canada will be hosting the first
American-Canadian conference on Research Data Centres in Montreal,
Quebec. The goal of this conference is to compare, contrast and
learn from the experiences of establishing and maintaining data centers
in the United States and Canada. Ways to explore and promote
opportunities for international comparison research will also be
discussed. To enable staff to attend this conference, all RDC's will
be closed from Monday, October 28 to Friday, November 1 inclusively.
4) Request for
Applications for CCHS research projects
The Canadian
Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Statistics Canada have signed
a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly fund a program to stimulate and
support research in the field of mental health and addictions. The
CIHR-Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (lead), in
partnership with the Institutes of Gender and Health, and Health
Services and Policy Research Institute are also involved in this
initiative.
The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) provides, for the very
first time, comprehensive national and provincial level data for a
selection of major mental illnesses, addictions and problems. A
complete description of the survey methodology and content as well as a
copy of the questionnaire can be found at: http://www.statcan.ca/english/concepts/hs/index.htm.
The principal research intention is to take advantage of this new
primary data source by exploring the high priority concerns of mental
health and illness. The CCHS data, in combination with other
information sources, will be utilized to illuminate the issues, and
provide valuable insights for all concerned -- especially those taking
the lead towards ensuring adequate and appropriate care.
A Request for Applications is being designed, and may be available from
the CIHR later this year, to solicit applications in response to the
following objectives:
- Take
advantage of the new data source from the Canadian Community Health
Survey, by exploring the high priority mental health and mental illness
concerns at a population base level.
- Illuminate
the issues and provide valuable insights that will guide
decision-makers in the provision of care, program development and
support for mental illness and addictions.
- Enhance
the capacity to conduct future research in mental health.
The official
announcement of the RFA will be made later this year through the CIHR
website at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/193.html. A
preliminary information sheet on this initiative is available by
request through the Toronto RDC at 416-946-8105.
5) RDC proposal
submission process
To access the
RDC, researchers must submit a project proposal to a review committee
operating under the auspices of the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council (SSHRC) and Statistics Canada.
The process is done through an on-line application system accessible at
(https://webapps.nserc.ca/SSHRC/faces/logon.jsp?lang=en_CA).
For more information on the Toronto RDC and how to apply for access,
please visit our website at: http://sites.utoronto.ca/rdc.
Dr. Blair Wheaton, the Academic Director for the RDC, would be happy to
review your proposal prior to its submission to ensure that all of the
required information is present. Please arrange to send your proposals
to us through email by calling 416-946-8105.
6) Contact us
For further
information on the RDC or on any other item in this newsletter, please
contact either:
Tina Hotton, Statistics Canada Analyst
Toronto Region-Statistics Canada RDC
Robarts Library, Room 7032
130 St. George St.
Toronto, ON
M5S 1A5
Tel: 416-946-8321
Fax: 416-946-8104
OR
Veronica Yei, Statistics Canada Analyst
Toronto Region-Statistics Canada RDC
Robarts Library, Room 7032
130 St. George St.
Toronto, ON
M5S 1A5
Tel: 416-946-8105
Fax: 416-946-8104
The Toronto RDC Steering Committee can be contacted through:
Dr. Blair Wheaton, Toronto RDC Academic Director
University of Toronto
222 College Street, Suite 106
Toronto, ON
M5T 3J1
Tel: 416-978-7065
Fax: 416-978-4771
Susan Murphy, RDC Financial Administrator
University of Toronto
222 College Street, Suite 106
Toronto, ON
M5T 3J1
Tel: 416-978-7037
Fax: 416-978-4771
For further information on analytical software available at the RDC,
please contact:
Dave Haans, Statistical and Research Consultant
Toronto Region-Statistics Canada RDC
Robarts Library, Room 7032
130 St. George St.
Toronto, ON
M5S 1A5
Tel: 416-946-8106
Fax: 416-946-8104