Census Bureau to open data center in Soc. Science building

After a long 12 months, the United States Census Bureau has finally agreed to open a research data center here at the University. Data provided by the Census Bureau will be available from the satellite office located in the Social Sciences building. The center will provide access to information which should have far-reaching implications for those researching political science, public policy, economics, sociology and many other fields.

The research data center will also allow researchers to have access to "microdata," which previously were available only in Washington, D.C. and four other centers located in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Pittsburgh and Boston.

The person behind the center's new location was economics department chair Marjorie McElroy, who said the opening "just made sense." The Census Bureau looks for geographic diversity, and this center will be the first of its kind in the southeastern United States. McElroy originally had to write a proposal to the National Science Foundation with backing from area academicians.

"The main part was to get a hundred researchers in the Triangle to say they would potentially be interested in getting it here," McElroy said.

The center will enable the many researchers in the Triangle area to do kinds of research that previously could not be done. People who want to use the census data must submit proposals to a review board composed of faculty from Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. The board will then make sure that the project is compatible with the needs and regulations of the Census Bureau, and that, above all else, confidential information is not disclosed. Once approved by the review board, proposals will be sent to Washington, D.C. for a final review.

Philip Cook, ITT/Sanford professor of public policy, said he hopes "to be the center's first customer when it opens." He will study the effects of gun availability on patterns of burglary and violent crime. Cook believes the center will solve the conflict between guaranteed rights of privacy and the needs of researchers.

Researchers like Cook will pay a fee to use center's resources. "Our goal is to be financially self-sufficient," said center director Alison Hagy, a research scientist in the department of economics. The center's original funding, however, will come from the three sponsoring institutions and the National Science Foundation, which will contribute $100,000 over the first three years. Duke will contribute $75,000, and UNC and NCSU will bring in $25,000 each the first year. After that, access fees paid by researchers will cover all costs.

McElroy believes that the center will benefit not only researchers but students and the community as a whole. "Over the long run, we can attract not only some good faculty, but interested people, along with giving students possibilities they never had before," she said.