Resources for Students

Learning Support

  • How to Read a Journal Article - Tips and tricks to make reading and understanding social science journal articles easier.

  • A Guide to Interpreting SPSS Output - How to interpret frequency distributions, crosstabulations, comparison of means tests, correlations, and OLS regressions done in SPSS. Used in teaching undergraduate Introduction to Statistics course.

  • A Brief Intro to Computer-aided Text Analysis (CATA) - A quick overview of using computers to analyze big chunks of text, which we call computer-aided text analysis (CATA). We provide links to additional information and resources that you can use to further develop your knowledge and get started with basic analyses.

  • Citing Data - Citing data is as important as citing literature used in a paper. This is a discussion of why it is important and how to properly cite data.

  • Data Management Plans - Guidelines for effective data management, most useful for graduate students and faculty beginning research projects for the first time. Information given responds to the requirements of federal funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.

Data Communication Scholarship

The ICPSR Data Communication Scholarship (formerly the Research Paper Competition) is an annual event open to undergraduate and graduate students and recent graduates. Students from ICPSR member institutions are eligible to win scholarships of $1,000 (first place) or $750 (second place) for creating a short video to promote a study in the ICPSR catalog.

Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research

The Summer Program provides rigorous, comprehensible training in statistics, quantitative and qualitative methods, and data analysis for students and researchers throughout their careers. We empower our program participants to immediately upgrade and sharpen the skills vital in their work to address real-world problems, develop policy solutions, and positively impact the future. Our curriculum includes more than 80 courses, in-person and online, covering topics from introductory statistics to advanced methods. Students can apply for scholarships as well as teaching assistant positions.

#NoStupidQuestions Video Series

ICPSR presents #NoStupidQuestions, a video series that helps answer data questions you might be afraid to ask. What is the difference between data and statistics? What exactly are metadata? We answer these questions and more in short, easy-to-digest videos featuring ICPSR's unique blend of fun and learning. Learn more and submit your own questions via ICPSR's #NoStupidQuestions landing page or check out the #NoStupidQuestions YouTube playlist.

Webinars and Tutorials

The ICPSR YouTube Channel presents Webinars and tutorials on accessing and using ICPSR resources. The Webinars cover a variety of topics, including finding what you want on the ICPSR website, analyzing ICPSR data online, creating setup files for SPSS, debugging SAS, SPSS, and Stata code, etc.

Using Resources for Instructors

Students wishing to sharpen their research skills or explore a variety of research topics are welcome to make use of these Teaching & Learning resources. Data-Driven Learning Guides demonstrate questions of interest to social scientists using real data and predefined analyses. Exercise Sets are sequenced activities that build toward a stated learning goal.