Lara Cleveland

Institutional Environments and Scholarly Work: American Criminology, 1951-1993

Neoinstitutional theses are examined for the constitution of criminological knowledge during the transformation of penal regimes and the accompanying emergence of a specialized field of criminology. Effects of this reorganization, historical period, and research funding on scholarly journal publications are examined. Results are based on a content analysis of 1,612 articles published in leading journals between 1951 and 1993. Multivariate analyses support neoinstitutional ideas, as topical and theoretical foci are associated with themes suggested by the policy sector. The replication of the policy sector in academic organization tightens this association. Further, articles based on political funding are more likely to engage new preoccupations of the political sector. Theoretical conclusions drawn in the articles under study, however, are independent of institutional factors.

Big Data: Large-Scale Historical Infrastructure from the Minnesota Population Center

Abstract The Minnesota Population Center (MPC) provides aggregate data and microdata that have been integrated and harmonized to maximize crosstemporal and cross-spatial comparability. All MPC data products are distributed free of charge through an interactive Web interface that enables users to limit the data and metadata being analyzed to samples and variables of interest to their research. In this article, the authors describe the integrated databases available from the MPC, report on recent additions and enhancements to these data sets, and summarize new online tools and resources that help users to analyze the data over time. They conclude with a description of the MPCs newest and largest infrastructure project to date: a global population and environment data network.

When excessive perturbation goes wrong and why IPUMS-International relies instead on sampling, suppression, swapping, and other minimally harmful methods to protect privacy of census microdata

IPUMS-International disseminates population census microdata at no cost for 69 countries. Currently, a series of 212 samples totaling almost a half billion person records are available to researchers. Registration is required for researchers to gain access to the microdata. Statistics from Google Analytics show that IPUMS-Internationals lengthy, probing registration form is an effective deterrent for unqualified applicants. To protect data privacy, we rely principally on sampling, suppression of geographic detail, swapping of records across geographic boundaries, and other minimally harmful methods such as top and bottom coding. We do not use excessively perturbative methods. A recent case of perturbation gone wrong- the household samples of the 2000 census of the USA (PUMS), the 2003-2006 American Community Survey, and the 2004-2009 Current Population Survey-, an empirical study of the impact of perturbation on the usability of UK census microdata-the Individual SARs of the 1991 census of the UK-, and a mathematical demonstration in a timely compendium of statistical confidentiality practices confirm the wisdom of IPUMS microdata management protocols and statistical disclosure controls.

Statistical coherence of primary schooling in population census microdata: IPUMS-International integrated samples compared for fifteen African countries.

The IPUMS-International project, now in its fifteenth year, integrates and disseminates population microdata for twenty-two African countries (82 countries world-wide) and the number continues to increase as more National Statistical Offices cooperate with the initiative. Statistical quality is a serious concern both for the producers of the microdata as well as the researchers who use them. This paper applies the intra-cohort comparison method to pairs of integrated (harmonized) samples for fifteen African countries to assess statistical coherence using as a benchmark the proportion completing primary school by single years of birth. Samples for six countries show near perfect coherence (R2 > .9, and regression coefficients ~1.0 +/- 0.6 <0.9). Large deviations from 1.0 characterize samples for only four countries. On the whole, the results suggest that samples for the fifteen countries have considerable utility for socio-demographic analysis.

Data Resource Profile: IPUMS-International

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series-International (IPUMS-International) disseminates high-precision census microdata samples from around the world. Since its inception in 1999, IPUMS-International has partnered with official statistical agencies to assemble the world’s largest collection of publicly available census microdata. With over 100 national statistical office (NSO) partners, IPUMS-International currently disseminates integrated data on more than one-half billion persons, spanning five continents and provided at no charge to researchers and students worldwide. The data series includes data from 1960 to 2011, with multiple samples available for most countries. IPUMS-International reduces the barriers to comparative research across time and space by converting international census microdata into a uniform format, providing comprehensive documentation and making the data available to researchers through a Web-based access system. The data series includes information on a broad range of population characteristics, including fertility, nuptiality, mortality, migration, disability, labour force participation, occupational structure, education, ethnicity and household composition. Variable coding schemes are standardized across samples (without loss of detail) to provide an integrated database that allows samples to be easily combined for comparisons across years or national boundaries. The IPUMS-International online data access system allows researchers to create customized data extracts that contain only the samples, variables and cases they require. The data access system is fully integrated with the variable and sample documentation in a user-friendly online interface, so researchers can make informed decisions as they define their datasets. Other features include intra-household relationship pointer variables, spatiotemporally harmonized geographical variables and accompanying boundary files (shape files), and an online data tabulator. Researchers who use census microdata disseminated through the IPUMS-International partnership are required to cite the NSOs that contributed their original data as well as IPUMS-International for harmonizing and disseminating the data. For each data extract, researchers receive an e-mail citation format which includes a list of the NSOs for each country in the extract.

Statistical coherence of primary schooling in IPUMS-International integrated population samples for China, India, Vietnam, and ten other Asia-Pacific countries.

IPUMS-International disseminates harmonized census microdata for more than 80 countries at no cost, although access is restricted to bona-fide researchers and students who agree to the stringent conditions-of-use license. Currently over 270 samples are available, totaling more than 600 million person records. Each year, 15–20 additional samples are released, as more countries cooperate with the IPUMS initiative and the integration of 2010 round census samples is completed. With so much microdata so readily available, questions of data quality naturally arise. This article focusses on the concept of statistical coherence over time for a single concept, primary schooling completed. From an analysis of the percentage completing primary schooling by birth year for pairs of samples for 13 Asia-Pacific countries, outstanding coherence is found for four countries – China, Mongolia, Vietnam and Indonesia – with mean differences of less than 0.5 percentage points, regression coefficient (b) ranging from 0.93 to 1.07 and R2 = 0.99. For the 13 countries as a group there is considerable variation overall with mean absolute difference as high as 16 percentage points, b ranging from 0.62–1.44 and R2 = 0.65–0.99. As a whole, statistical coherence of primary schooling is outstanding. Nonetheless, to make expert use of the harmonized microdata, researchers are cautioned to carefully study the IPUMS integrated metadata as well as the original source documentation. National Statistical Offices not currently cooperating or that have not yet entrusted 2010 round census microdata are invited to do so.