Social Science Research and Instructional Center

 

Product

California State University Social Science Research and Instructional Center

License

California State University, Long Beach subscribes to the CSU Social Science Research and Instructional Center (SSRIC). It is an annual subscription coordinated by the Office of Academic Technology. The center is managed by the Social Science Research and Instructional Council, which consists of faculty and staff representatives from the CSU campuses. It provides online databases to download for secondary analysis, technical support and classroom teaching modules in the social sciences. Faculty, staff and students are eligible to use this online resource.

Key Features

Founded in 1972, the Social Science Research and Instructional Council (SSRIC) is the oldest discipline council in the CSU. The Council’s mission is to foster quantitative social science inquiry by students and faculty. Each CSU campus is entitled to appoint a representative to the Council, which meets three times each year. A growing number of campuses have appointed a second co-representative.

The original focus of the Council was to oversee the CSU’s membership in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), which was and remains the world’s premier social science data archive. Today, in addition to the ICPSR, the Council oversees CSU licensing agreements with The Field Institute (which conducts the California Poll), and the Roper Center for Opinion Research.

The Council provides a number of value-added services. These include:

  • Workshops for faculty, presented by Council members. Currently, workshops are available on the use of data bases and on SPSS (a statistical software package) at both the introductory and intermediate levels.
  • An annual Student Research Conference at which both undergraduate and graduate students present their work in a setting patterned after that of a professional conference. The 32nd annual Student Research Conference was held at CSULB, on May 2, 2007.
  • Assistance to faculty and advanced graduate students wishing to attend the ICPSR Summer Program
  • Selection of faculty research proposals to include questions on the CA Poll.
  • Participation in the governance of the ICPSR. Over the years, four SSRIC representatives have served on the ICPSR’s Council. SSRIC representatives also participate at the ICPSR’s biennial Official Representatives (OR’s) meeting.  Ed Nelson (Fresno) was recently selected for  an ICPSR Flanigan Award in recognition of his contributions as an OR. Lori Weber (Chico) was selected as an OR Sabbatical fellowship at the ICPSR headquarters in Ann Arbor Michigan for the summer of 2006.
  • The Teaching Resources Depository (TRD). The TRD includes instructional modules and exercises, an SPSS tutorial, a Website for introductory research methods courses in political science, and various other curricular materials.
  • A Website (www.ssric.org) providing visitors with information on these programs and activities.

The Council plans to build on these successes with new initiatives, including:

  • Sponsorship of additional materials for the TRD, including awards of honoraria to faculty producing new instructional modules.
  • Acquisition of a license to create instructional databases in DSA (Survey documentation and Analysis) format.


For more information, contact the current chair (AY 2008-9), Dr. Kathy Naff, Associate Professor of Public Administration, CSU San Francisco State University (kcnaff@sfsu.edu, 415-338-3344).

 

Visit the SSRIC SDA website [opens new window] to learn about its databases and features. Or visit any of the online resources listed below.

System Requirements

None.

Installation

None.

Support

Please submit questions, problems or suggestions [opens new window] regarding the Social Science Research and Instructional Council Specialty Center license.