NEWS

New Data Access Request form – applying for data easier than ever

Applications for administrative data for research just became much easier in British Columbia thanks to a collaborative effort  ... more

Few seats still available for summer workshops

There are still a few seats available for these summer workshops in Multilevel and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (July 5-9) and An Introduction to Bayesian Disease Mapping (July 29-30)  ... more

Admin Data 101 workshop now online!

This free workshop explains the basics of what administrative data are, where they come from, how they can be used for research, what the data produced for a research project actually look like and what skills are needed to work with them ... more

ARCHIVED NEWS

Planning the Data Request

Completion of the Data Access Request (DAR) itself is akin to completing a major grant funding application — it takes time, planning, and meticulous attention to detail. A major obstacle to timely access to data is an inadequate or incomplete application.

The Data Steward(s) require an exact description of the data required for a project in order to evaluate a request, and Population Data BC staff need a detailed description in order to prepare the appropriate data. A properly completed DAR will specify in detail the data needed for the research project, including a study population definition and a complete list of data files, fields and years of data.

Requests are assessed according to legislated requirements in the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), which only allows the disclosure of personal information if certain conditions are met, including:  the exact nature of the data being requested, and how it will be used to fulfill the aims of the research project. The  level of information in a standard research protocol is not sufficiently detailed to meet these two requirements. The DAR meets those needs and ensures that researchers are provided with the data they need to fulfill their research project objectives.

The application process requires that researchers:

  • Become familiar with all material outlining access requirements, data holdings, study population definitions, and privacy considerations.
  • Ensure that the ethics and peer review requirements of the Data Steward(s) have been met.
  • Submit a completed DAR to Population Data BC.

Timelines

Completion of a Data Access Request, the associated approval process and finally data preparation, can be a lengthy process.  While we are working on reducing the timelines associated with an application, currently application to data delivery may take over a year.  Researchers should be aware of this timeline when working on funding proposals and planning the course of their research.

See also: the Research Data Access Framework for more information.

> Study Populations and Extracts
> How Much Data to Request

what's next? > completing the DAR