HOW TO REFERENCE POPULATION DATA BCThe following provides useful information and resource language for researchers to use when referencing Population Data BC in:
Slides, with basic information on Population Data BC, for insertion into research presentations are available from the Researcher Liaison Unit at Population Data BC. If you have any questions, or require further information or clarity, please contact us at rlu@popdata.bc.ca. When referencing Population Data BC in funding applications or written reports, please use the full name, Population Data BC. Do not use PDBC or PopData BC. Required acknowledgement languageAs part of your Research Agreement obligations the following minimum wording is required on all materials intended for public disclosure which result from a research project coordinated by Population Data BC. “List the name(s) of the public body (bodies) providing the data here*” approved access to and use of the data facilitated by Population Data BC for this study. Example: The BC Ministry of Health and WorkSafeBC approved access to and use of the data facilitated by Population Data BC for this study. *The correct names for each of the public bodies with holdings at Population Data BC are as follows:
Population Data BC MissionPopulation Data BC, a multi-university platform, is BC’s first pan-provincial population health data service. It is a nationally active and recognised data and education resource that facilitates interdisciplinary research and teaching on the determinants of human health, well-being and development. Description of Population Data BCPopulation Data BC provides a research data resource, in the form of data linkage, development, and access, to an extensive range of administrative data for population research, including education, early childhood development, health care services, work place, and the environment. Population Data BC also supports the integration and use of geomatics in health research. Finally, it provides an education and training service with both in-person and online workshops on how to best use population health data. Legal authority for Population Data BCPopulation Data BC’s Privacy Impact Assessment has been reviewed and accepted by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia and the provincial government Chief Information Officer. The Information Sharing Agreements between Population Data BC and the various Data Stewards are permitted under section 33 and 35 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Section 33 grants public bodies the authority to disclose information under various conditions, including to another public body where the information is necessary for the performance of the duties or operations of the receiving public body. Section 35 allows for use of personal information for research or statistical purposes. FundingPopulation Data BC receives funding from multiple public bodies, including the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the BC Knowledge Development Fund, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. It additionally receives funds from many of the Stewards whose data is held at Population Data BC. Description of SREThe Secure Research Environment, or SRE, is a central server accessible through a firewall only via an encrypted Virtual Private Network (VPN) and use of a SecurID token for authentication. The SRE provides researchers with secure storage and back up of data for approved projects, as well as access to various software programs for analyzing the data. Researchers are not permitted to download individual record level data from their research extracts on the SRE to any local drive. Downloading aggregate results of analyses, scripts etc. from the SRE (e.g. for the purpose of incorporation into a paper for publication) is permissible. Population Data BC maintains and reviews an audit log of all transfers off of the SRE. Description of linkagePopulation Data BC’s Identifier Management Unit is responsible for data linkage, employing probabilistic and deterministic linkage techniques, using Identifiers such as names, birth dates, sex, postal codes, and Personal Health Numbers. Only a limited number of named programmers work in the Identifier Management Unit, which is technically separated from the rest of Population Data BC data holdings. Probabilistic linkage techniques enable robust, high-quality, linkages across disparate data sets when there is no single, unique, near error free, fully populated identifier field held in common across all sources, such as a Personal Health Number. Typically a broad range of identifiers is used to ensure that linkages are accurate. Population Data BC performs linkage on intake of a new data set. This operational linkage aids not only the efficiency of Population Data BC’s operations but, more importantly, provides data protection for the Identifiers – they are only used when processing incoming data. New Identifier data are compared to an existing Population Directory. The Population Directory refers to tables Population Data BC maintains and develops that include Personal Information, such as variations of name, address, and birth date on all the individuals about whom Population Data BC holds information (most people in British Columbia). This directory is updated upon receipt of each new data set and provides the basis for record linkages. The Population Directory is stored in a separate, technically-secure location within Population Data BC. Under no circumstances is information from the Population Directory released to researchers. Description of data application and approvals necessaryPopulation Data BC assists researchers with their applications as long as they fit within our Research Data Access Framework. Basically the research project must fall under the requirements of FIPPA Section 35, and the researcher must be considered a bona fide researcher as per FIPPA and the BC Universities Act (see: www.popdata.bc.ca/dataaccess/rdaf for definitions). If these requirements are met, our Researcher Liaison Unit works with the researcher to ensure that they, and their project, meet all other requirements involved in the application including, but not limited to, the following:
Finally, Population Data BC has the following requirements of researchers throughout the application process:
Population Data BC Contact InformationPopulation Data BC has locations at The University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and The University of Victoria. General Enquiries: Education and Training Enquiries: Data Access Enquiries: Data Sourcing Enquiries:
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