How to Find ICPSR Data

You may search either the master ICPSR data repository at Michigan or the local holdings at Duke. Usually it is best to identify items of interest through the Michigan site and then determine whether they are locally available.

The Michigan ICPSR site provides basic and advanced search mechanisms. Basic searches are done by queries of the study title, the principal investigators or the study number.

The Duke ICPSR site replicates the basic ICPSR search mechanisms.

• The Duke search tool allows you to determine whether a study of particular interest is already at Duke.
• If a study is archived at Duke, you may display and print a detailed holdings record for the study, which provides specific access information for the files comprising the study.
• If a study is not archived locally, you may request it.

Specific studies are most easily identified by a principal investigator or a keyword in the study title.

Topical searches should be done at the Michigan site using the advanced search mechanism. Each study has an abstract with well-defined fields that characterize the study. Searching the summary field by keyword is particularly useful. Then browsing through the summary gives you an overview of a study's "subject matter or intellectual content".

When a study of interest is identified, make note of its study number, a four digit number (sometimes with leading zeros), which uniquely identifies that ICPSR holding.

When selecting a longitudinal or serial data collection for use, check existing local holdings against those of the ICPSR site to make sure they are up-to-date.