RDC News: November 2014

Upcoming Hour Changes:

Please remember that the upcoming fall break means: early closing on Thurs. Oct. 30th (i.e. no extended hours) and Fri. Oct. 31st, at 4:45pm Also, note the following changes mid-November: no extended hours on Tues. Nov. 18th and Thurs. Nov. 20th (regular closing time of 5:30pm).

Please consult the schedule for Mills Library for more information.

NEW Call for Proposals for the biobank of the Canadian Health Measures Survey

From November 1 to December 31, 2014 Statistics Canada is inviting researchers to apply for access to blood, urine and DNA samples from the Biobank of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) for use in health studies. The biospecimens are available to any Canadian researcher that completes a review process and would benefit from a national population survey of about 5,600 participants per collection cycle.

The CHMS collects key information relevant to the health of Canadians by means of direct physical measurements such as body composition, blood pressure, lung function and physical activity level. The survey also collects blood and urine samples to test for cardiovascular health, chronic and infectious diseases, nutritional status and environmental exposure.

For details about the application and review process (which involves the Application form to use CHMS biospecimens). visit the Biobank section of the CHMS website. For more information, please contact the CHMS biobank coordinator at chms-biobank@statcan.gc.ca. Proposals are due

Please see the attached Call for Proposals and documentation for further details.

REMINDER: Call for Proposals - Incident-Based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey - Hate Crime Data - Pilot Project

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is conducting a pilot project where UCR Hate Crime data for 2010, 2011, and 2012 will be accessible via a select number of RDCs. This would be a valuable data set to those interested in criminology, sociology, geography, and other related disciplines. Proposals must be submitted by November 24, 2014. Only a limited number of proposals will be accepted. The call for proposals was sent out with last month's newsletter. If you require another copy, please email the RDC.

New data sets at the RDC:
In the upcoming weeks we will be receiving new data sets and surveys at the McMaster Research Data Centre. Please see the information below. Researchers interested in accessing these data sets are encouraged to submit proposals!

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) - 2012
The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) (2012) is an assessment of adult skills and competencies. It was initiated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and collects information from many countries in addition to Canada. Many questions build on previous studies, such as the 1994 Adult Literary Survey and 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey, allowing for the comparison of skill distribution over time. This release is the Canadian portion of the international PIAAC data set. It is a cross-section survey of Canadian adults 16- 65. Some of the assessments included literacy, numeracy, and problem solving, designed to explore the activities that adults perform in their daily lives (such as reading, finding information, and using technology). This data is used to inform policy decisions, including allocation of resources and content creation for adult education programs and remedial skill development courses. Researchers interested in adult education, job training and educational attainment, labour, and literacy may find this data set useful.

For further details please go to the information page on the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies at the Statistics Canada website: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4406