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Lynn Woolfrey DataFirst University of Cape Town

DATA ARCHIVING IN AFRICA : THE PRESERVATION AND SHARING OF SURVEY MICRODATA TO SUPPORT AFRICAN RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE. Lynn Woolfrey DataFirst University of Cape Town. African Survey & Census Microdata. There is a substantial amount of survey data collected in Africa

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Lynn Woolfrey DataFirst University of Cape Town

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  1. DATA ARCHIVING IN AFRICA:THE PRESERVATION AND SHARING OF SURVEY MICRODATA TO SUPPORT AFRICAN RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE Lynn Woolfrey DataFirst University of Cape Town

  2. African Survey & Census Microdata • There is a substantial amount of survey data collected in Africa • However only a small percentage of this survey data is archived to be disseminated as microdata files to support academic research and policy analysis.

  3. Producers of African Survey Microdata • National Statistics Offices (NSOs) • International donor organisations • Foreign and local universities and other research institutions • Private sector/Commercial institutions Their microdata archiving practices vary

  4. Microdata Archiving Practices of African Data Producers International Donor Organisations • Often make the microdata files from their surveys available via their websites • Donor supported projects also provide survey microdata via their websites e.g. The USAID- funded Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in African countries

  5. Microdata Archiving Practices of African Data Producers Universities/Research Institutions • Most African research institutions do not have established survey microdata preservation or dissemination policies. • The time and resources required to preserve and disseminate microdata are not available to most researchers. • Exclusive access to original data is seen to give researchers advantages over rivals in an academic field.

  6. Microdata Archiving Practices of African Data Producers Private Sector Organisations • Private sector data producers may provide their data for a fee • Generally this data is collected for paying clients and is not available to the public.

  7. Data Archiving at National Statistics Offices (NSOs) • Most survey microdata collected and archived in Africa is official data • Until recently this data was only used in-house by government statisticians • Survey findings were provided to the public as reports with aggregated data.

  8. Data Archiving at NSOs • Academic research using survey data is now seen as key input into government planning • This now depends on researchers gaining access to original microdata files from national surveys

  9. Data Archiving at NSOs • African NSOs currently do not have resources to archive and share data • Thus many do not follow international data archiving best practice • A recent survey revealed that, with few exceptions, data provision is either not part of NSO agendas, or is handled on a case-by-case basis

  10. Data Archiving options for NSOs Option 1: Off-site archiving by international organisations These organisations may have the resources available to ensure the long-term preservation of data files, and their dissemination in a suitably anonymised form

  11. IPUMS-International: a global census microdata collaboratory“The Hubble Telescope project of the social sciences” Preserve census microdata and documentation for all the countries in the world. In 10 years: 338 censuses, 113 countries; for Africa 49 censuses, 21 countries Disseminate--without cost--extracts of samples to bona-fide researchers worldwide. National Stat Offices receive copies on CD for national distribution.

  12. Option 2: On-site archiving by NSO staff Utilising tools developed by international donor organisations e.g. The National Data Archive (NADA) web-based open-source application being installed at NSOs by the International Household Survey Network’s (IHSN) Accelerated Data Program (ADP).

  13. NSOs in 13 African Countries* have acquired the NADA application to manage and share their microdata *Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia

  14. Survey Data Archives:Another African data management option • Modelled on the European network of national Survey Data Archives (SDAs) • Survey data is deposited at SDAs by NSOs, research institutions and private sector data producers • SDAs provide the advocacy, institutional links and technical skills to facilitate data sharing in the region for research purposes.

  15. African Survey Data Archives • The South African National Data Archive (SADA) • South Africa’s Official Survey Data Archive • Preserves and shares microdata from South African surveys • A component of the South African research support infrastructure

  16. African Survey Data Archives DataFirst, at the University of Cape Town • Preserves and shares South African survey microdata for research purposes • Provides training in survey analysis http://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za

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