Defining and distributing longitudinal historical data in a general way through an intermediate structure

Konzept einer intermediären Datenstruktur (IDS) zur Integration national unterschiedlicher Datenbanken

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Alter, George; Mandemakers, Kees; Gutmann, Myron P.

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Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-287180

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Abstract	'Der Beitrag diskutiert am Beispiel von demographischen Mikrodaten methodologische Probleme von Längsschnittdaten. Die Herausforderungen bestehen darin, 1. Lebensverläufe in kartesische Datenformate zu transformieren, die mit den Erfordernissen gängiger statistischer Analysesysteme kompatibel sind, und 2. Datensätze für interlokale und interkulturelle Studien vergleichbar zu machen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen wird eine intermediäre Datenstruktur (IDS) vorgeschlagen, die auf alle Datenbanken übertragen kann. Die Autoren erläutern den Vorteil des IDS-Ansatzes und die Maßnahmen, die zur Umsetzung des Konzeptes führen werden.' (Autorenreferat) 'In recent years, studies of historical populations have shifted from tracing large-scale processes to analyzing longitudinal micro data in the form of 'life histories'. This approach expands the scope of social history by integrating data on a range of life course events. The complexity of life-course analysis, however, has limited most researchers to working with one specific database. The authors discuss methodological problems raised by longitudinal historical data and the challenge of converting life histories into rectangular datasets compatible with statistical analysis systems. The logical next step is comparing life courses across local and national databases, and they propose a strategy for sharing historical longitudinal data based on an intermediate data structure (IDS) that can be adopted by all databases. They describe the benefits of the IDS approach and activities that will advance the goals of simplifying and promoting research with longitudinal historical data.' (author's abstract)
Keywords	data; life career; conception; management; process-produced data; data bank; data interconnection; historical social research; longitudinal study; micro level; comparative research
Classification	Research Design; Methods and Techniques of Data Collection and Data Analysis, Statistical Methods, Computer Methods; Information and Documentation, Libraries, Archives
Method	basic research; historical
Document language	English
Publication Year	2009
Page/Pages	p. 78-114
Journal	Historical Social Research, 34 (2009) 3
Status	Published Version; reviewed
Licence	Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
Document Type	journal article

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