Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What does a data archive do?
A data archive stores, catalogues and indexes machine-readable data mainly on large-scale national research projects and disseminates them to researchers, organizations or individuals who use them for secondary analysis, research training, teaching and decision making. The archive ensures that data is preserved against technological obsolescence and physical damage.
What data is held in SADA?
SADA stores machine-readable quantitative data covering a broad range of research areas in all domains of science, e.g. data on sociology, political science, opinion polls, demography, census results, health, management and economics, agriculture and education. SADA's World Wide Web facility is also a gateway to the holdings of other data archives with which SADA can exchange data.
What is meant by Secondary Analysis?
The datasets obtained from SADA are used for the purpose of secondary analysis, which is the analysis of an existing dataset by another researcher or a group of researchers, which presents interpretations, conclusions or knowledge additional to, or different from, those presented in the initial report.
How do depositors benefit from SADA?
SADA guarantees long-term preservation and proper documentation of data. Depositors can obtain guidelines on the documentation and deposit of data free of charge from SADA. SADA stipulates that users of datasets must acknowledge the depositors of the data.
Who owns the data held by SADA?
The data held by SADA is owned by the depositors of the data as specified in the Depositor's Schedule, which is signed by the depositor and SADA. The depositor always retains full copyright and ownership of the data. SADA simply stores, administers and controls access to the data.
What conditions govern access to the data?
The conditions that govern the accessibility of the data are coded as follows:
- No restrictions
- Data to be made available after a specific date
- Other conditions (specify)
What does SADA do to the data when received from depositors?
SADA ensures that confidentiality is not breached. Checks are done to ensure that definitions provided by depositors conform to the data and documentation. Since SADA does not own the data, it cannot change the data without consulting the depositors. SADA notes any unusual features in the data to help secondary analysts fully understand the data.
How is the data supplied?
SADA delivers data on CD-ROMS and by File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The internal storage format of the data is SPSS. Certain datasets can also be made available in other formats, such as ASCII or SAS.
How much does it cost the user to obtain data?
Currently there are no costs involved when ordering data and documentation from SADA.
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