AQR: Design of Social Research

SOC-GA 1301 – Fall 2017

Robert Max Jackson

Assisting: Christina Nelson

Christina's office hours: Wed 1-3pm,
Office 4177 (Puck Building)



Possible Data Sources for Thesis Research Proposal

The table shows data sources AQR students have used for their MA theses in recent years.  No restrictions limit what data can be used for theses (except that an advisor must be available to support the study), but these sources are a good place to start. Clicking on the study name in the left column will take you to the main web page for that study. There you can find descriptions of the available data and how to get access to it. Be forewarned that to use the data from any of these studies effectively, you must invest the time needed to gain a strong understanding of the data and how others have used it.


      Survey Name      
(click name to go to data page)		 Brief Description
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States during the 1994-95 school year. The Add Health cohort has been followed into young adulthood with four in-home interviews, the most recent in 2008, when the sample was aged 24-32.
American Time Use Survey (ATUS) The American Time Use Survey (ATUS), sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and conducted by the United States Census Bureau (USCB), is a time-use survey that provides measures of the amounts of time people spend on various activities, including working, leisure, childcare, and household activities. The survey has been conducted annually since 2003.
Survey for Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is the nation’s/arts-participation
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program is responsible for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries, through more than 300 surveys in over 90 countries.
World Values Survey (WVS) The World Values Survey (WVS) is a global research project that explores people’nd disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on health and population in developing countries, through more than 300 surveys in over 90 countries.
American National Election Survey (ANES) The American National Election Studies (ANES) are the leading academically-run national surveys of voters in the United States, conducted before and after every presidential election. The mission of the American National Election Studies (ANES) is to inform explanations of election outcomes by providing data that support rich hypothesis testing, maximize methodological excellence, measure many variables, and promote comparisons across people, contexts, and time.
National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), mainly the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY) The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) are conducted by the US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, designed to gather information at multiple points in time on significant life events of several population samples of US citizens, especially their labor market activities. The NLSY includes important continuing panel studies of two cohorts, one begun in 1979, the other in 1997.
The Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study (Fragile Families or FFCWS) The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) is a longitudinal birth cohort study of nearly 5,000 children born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 (roughly three-quarters of whom were born to unmarried parents). The core Study consists of interviews with both mothers and fathers at birth and again when children are ages one, three, five, and nine.
General Social Survey (GSS) The GSS is a general survey of American adults conducted biyearly (annually in the earlier years) since 1972. It collects data about respondents' demographic characteristics and opinions. Many questions are repeated regularly while new questions are also added regularly to address different issues or research strategies.
Current Population Survey (CPS) The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 U.S. households conducted by the US Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The survey focuses on employment and earnings, but includes various supplemental questions on a varying schedule.
American Community Survey (ACS) The ACS, conducted by US Census Bureau, is a rolling survey of about 300,000 households per month (about 3.5 million per year) focused on demographic characteristics. It has replaced what used to be the "long form" of the decennial census.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) IPUMS is a data repository, originally aimed at making available public use samples of historical U.S. censuses with standardized coding.  It has expanded to include censuses from other nations and other government data, particularly including the ACS, CPS, DHS, and ATUS listed above.  This is a good starting place for projects concerning comparisons over time using cross-sectional data.