Although major funding agencies now require social scientists to share their documented raw data, scientists have been reluctant to comply. The reasons include unwillingness to divulge all of the conditions under which the data were generated, cost in time and money, and the desire by social scientists to carry the research further themselves. Data sharing, however, promises to foster more open, cost-effective and cumulative research, and to improve the quality of methodology, data and inference. Sharing Social Science Data presents the major accomplishments of social scientists who have pioneered in data sharing, highlighting the advantages for social science. It also includes an examination of the reasons for data sharing, the specific sharing practices in various disciplines, the factors affecting the usefulness of shared data (documentation, archiving, and marketing), and individual and institutional concerns about data sharing. A timely examination, this cohesive and well written volume will interest graduate students and researchers in all areas of the social sciences. ". . .the chapters are thoughtful and well written, and they address many of the crucial issues faced by the social sciences in the 1990s. . . .anyone who wants to help shape the future of the social and behavioral sciences can benefit from giving this book at least a quick read." --Contemporary Psychology
About the Author, Joan E. Sieber
Joan E. Sieber, a psychologist, Professor Emerita, California State University, Hayward, has specialized in empirical research on questions of scientific ethics, culturally sensitive methods of research and intervention, data sharing methodology, and scholarship on ethical problem solving. In 2001-2002, she was Acting Director of the National Science Foundation program Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science and Technology. She is the author of eight books and numerous other publications including software and encyclopedia entries on ethical problem solving in social and behavioral research. (See attached curriculum vitae.) She has served on seven IRBs, of which she has chaired four, and has assisted many IRBs, including those in federal agencies (the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Bureau of Prisons), those in private corporations (Interval Research Corporation, the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research) and various academic institutions in the development of their policies and procedures. She currently serves as a site visitor to IRBs seeking accreditation, and sits on the Accreditation Council of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) which is pioneering in the improvement of policies and practices of IRBs.
