ADP - SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA ARCHIVES

The Catalogue of the ADP offers a rich source of social sciences' data (demography, attitudes and behaviors etc.) that cover wide topics. Such data can represent an important resource also in teaching, as teachers can use them to supplement lectures and exercises by using real data to portray concrete research problems. The use of secondary data resources in teaching is unlimited:

• re-analysis of existing studies – learning analysis methods,
• re-analysis of research data from a different perspective – expansion of the research area or the use of other, new methods of analysis,
• comparative analyses (longitudinal, international),
• insights into different modes of data gathering,
• learning different methodological procedures: sampling, handling non-response, missing data etc.

Data packages, intended for teaching purposes are already a well-established practice in universities abroad. Such, custom made data files include also other materials in addition to the anonymized microdata, that help teachers to include microdata in the study process (for example problem questions, theoretical frameworks, assignment examples etc.). Teaching data files with microdata cover scientific research field with which students already deal in classes, so they are basically an addition to the already existing study materials. By using such study materials, the students may improve their methodological knowledge and their analytical competencies in social sciences research. 

Some guidelines and materials for the use of secondary data in teaching can be found at similar organizations:

UK Data Service. 2017. Teaching With Data. Accessible: https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/teaching (8 April 2017).

ICPSR. 2017. Teaching & Learning with ICPSR. Accessible: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/instructors/index.jsp (8 April 2017).

Currently, we are cooperating with university teachers from various social sciences' fields and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SORS) in preparing teaching resources that will show how to use data from official statistics in teaching. The materials will be available at the end of the year.