AMES, Iowa — After a decade of planning, a new Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) opens this month on the Iowa State University campus, benefiting researchers across the state and region.
A grand opening, Sept. 17, will introduce the new facility to interested users. The event, from 10-11:30 a.m., will take place in Heady Hall Room 368A. Activities include a presentation by Rachelle Hill, FSRDC lead for the Census Bureau, and a panel discussion by researchers who are using data available through the FSRDC. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Hill and other FSRDC leaders and view the center.
“It’s exciting to make this gateway to immense federal data resources available to more researchers,” said Cassandra Dorius, a senior scientist with the Census Bureau named as acting administrator for the new FSRDC. She will provide supervision and assistance for those who use the facility. During her tenure at the center, she is on leave from a faculty position in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State.
“The center can be used by scientists across many fields, including in the private sector, to study pressing issues for our communities. I look forward to helping people take advantage of the new opportunities it represents,” Dorius said.
The Ames facility is a branch of the Central Plains Research Data Center (CPRDC) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It will provide a physically secure space where researchers can access confidential federal data.
“To be competitive, social scientists need access to this kind of data. This facility can be considered an observational instrument, in the same category of importance for social scientists as magnetic resonance imaging equipment or mass spectrometers are for physicists or chemists,” said Professor Joshua Rosenbloom in the Department of Economics, who will serve as its executive director after collaborating with Zhengyuan Zhu, director of the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, to bring the center to Iowa State.
Researchers will not be able to “walk right in,” according to Rosenbloom. They will need to apply to access the center and gain clearance to work with confidential government data. Users must show the public value of the research and how they will protect the identity of study participants.
"We are delighted to partner with Iowa State University in opening the long-awaited branch of the CPRDC,” said John Anderson, CPRDC executive director. “With this facility, researchers in Iowa will have much easier access to the treasure trove of restricted data sets available through the federal statistical system to pursue important evidence-based research."
FSRDCs are partnerships with leading research institutions and the U.S. federal government statistical agencies (though not currently the U.S. Department of Agriculture). There are 34 locations, located through a competitive process led by the National Science Foundation. New federal research data center locations are evaluated for their potential contribution to scientific research based on factors including potential user populations.
The nearest FSRDCs are now three to five hours away, which is a barrier in terms of costs and time for researchers and graduate students here, according to Dorius.
The center's operation is a joint venture between Iowa State’s Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Liberal Arts and Sciences with additional support from the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Business, and Design, the Departments of Economics and Statistics, the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology and the Office of the Vice President for Research. User fees, which researchers can include in sponsored project proposals, will help cover the Ames center’s operating costs. Seed funding for the Central Plains Research Data Center came from the National Science Foundation.
General questions about the center and its resources can be directed to ced.fsrdc.info@census.gov. For information on how to develop a proposal to work through the Iowa center, contact cassandra.j.dorius@census.gov. Questions about the grand opening can be directed to Rosenbloom at jlrosenb@iastate.edu.
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Contacts:
Joshua Rosenbloom, Economics, 515-294-1257, jlrosenb@iastate.edu
Cassandra Dorius, National Census Bureau, 301-763-2996, cassandra.j.dorius@census.gov
Zhengyuan Zhu, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, 515 294 0519, zhuz@iastate.edu
Ann Y. Robinson, Agricultural and Life Sciences Communications, 515-294-3066, ayr@iastate.edu