COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE DATA ARCHIVE

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to foster evidence-based research in complementary and alternative medicine through the secondary analysis of scientifically sound CAM datasets. It will do this by facilitating access to, and statistical analysis of original individual-level data from outstanding scientific datasets through the creation of an international CAM Data Archive (CAMDA). The archive will comprise three kinds of machine-readable materials: (1) approximately 30-50 exemplary datasets, fully documented and made compatible with a variety of popular statistical software programs and operating systems; (2) the measurement instruments, questionnaires, and protocols (in machine-readable and searchable PDF format) that correspond to the datasets; and (3) HTML and Adobe-based search and retrieval software to identify those portions of the datasets and measurement instruments relevant to user-specified research questions and keywords. Each archived study will also include a standardized printed and machine-readable User's Guide describing the study, its contents, and important analysis notes. The archive will be easy to use, fast, and efficient. It will serve the widest possible user constituency, health researchers, social scientists, educators, students, and policy makers, and maximize its availability by offering all its products on CD-ROM and as downloadable files on the Internet through Sociometrics' Socionet server. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Prospective users of CAMDA include researchers, health practitioners, policy-makers, educators, students, and other health and social science data consumers. These groups represent a potential for tens of thousands of individual and institutional sales. Sociometrics current data archives have sold over $158,000 in total volume, an increase of 40% in the last 9 months of this year. In light of the value-added features associated with CAMDA, we expect it to match and exceed this pace.