Course: Data Sources

Course type: compulsory
Lecturer: Mojca Bavdaž, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
 

Study programme and level Study field Academic year Semester
Applied statistics, second level All modules 1st 2nd

For the timeline see Curriculum.

Prerequisites:

  • Enrolment into the first year of the program is required to participate in the course.
  • Positively graded assignment is a prerequisite for written exam.

Content (Syllabus outline):

  1. General issues about data sources:
  • Characteristics of data sources.
  • Different kinds of access to data.
  • Big data and the future of data sources.
  • Creative use of data sources.
  • Data confidentiality and data protection. Statistical disclosure control.
  1. Data in official statistics:
  • Typology of data sources in official statistics (institutional, content, technical aspects).
  • Quality. Statistical standards. Metadata.
  • Accessibility, tools and approaches for obtaining and using statistical data.
  • Visualisation and exploratory data analysis in official statistics.
  1. Data and related materials from scientific data archives:
  • General data archives (Social Sciences Data Archive etc.) and specialised data archives (e.g. qualitative, networks).
  • Access to international data (CESSDA, ICPSR, international research projects, organisations).
  • Materials related to data (database of survey questions, publications).
  • Preparation of data for analysis: merging from different sources and formats, ex-post harmonisation of variables, data cleaning and documentation.
  • Advanced options for exploiting existing data (multilevel analysis, comparative analysis, longitudinal research etc.).
  1. Specific data sources from the fields of social and natural sciences (commercial databases, data warehouses in public and private sector, databases in specific scientific fields such as public health and medicine etc.).

Other relevant topics.

Objectives and competences:
Course objectives are to:

  • Introduce students to the most important national and foreign sources of statistical data and possibilities of their use.
  • Enable students for an efficient use of statistical data sources in their research field (statistical and data literacy).
  • Introduce students to the basic principles of data management and access rules.

Competences:

  • Ability to judge the usefulness of statistical data sources for statistical analysis.
  • Knowledge of tools and approaches to obtaining and searching for statistical data.       

Intended learning outcomes:
Students will deepen and extend their knowledge of data sources from various scientific disciplines and understanding of their importance and role in statistical analysis. They will get the latest knowledge about their availability, access and possibilities of exploitations, and improve their optimal strategies of obtaining and exploiting these data sources.

 

Kontakt

Glavni kontakt:
e-pošta: info.stat (at) uni-lj.si

Kontakt za administrativna vprašanja (vpis, tehnična vprašanja):
Tanja Petek
Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000 Ljubljana.
št. sobe: AN012C-ŠTU
telefon: 01 4768 460
e-pošta: tanja.petek (at) fe.uni-lj.si