DEVELOPMENT OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE MICROCOMPUTER DATA ARCHIVE

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF RADICALLY IMPACTING BOTH THE MANNER IN WHICH SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA ARE ANALYZED AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH THESE DATA ARE UTILIZED. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DRAMATIC DECREASES IN COST AND INCREASES IN ACCESSIBILITY THAT WILL BE BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE IMMINENT IMPLEMENTATION ON A PERSONAL COMPUTER OF A MAJOR MAINFRAME DATA ANALYSIS PACKAGE (SPSS). THE PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH AND MAKE AVAILABLE ON A PERSONAL COMPUTER AN EASILY ACCESSIBLE, STATE-OF-THE-ART DATA ARCHIVE ON TEENAGE FAMILY LIFE, SEXUALITY, PREGNANCY, CONTRACEPTIVE USE, AND CHILDBEARING. BECAUSE CURRENT WORK OF THE P.I. IS DEVELOPING SUCH AN ARCHIVE FOR MAINFRAME USE, THE PERSONAL COMPUTER VERSION CAN BE ESTABLISHED FOR A FRACTIONAL INCREMENT OF THE INVESTMENT ALREADY MADE IN DATA BASE IDENTIFICATION, SELECTION, ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, AND DOCUMENTATION. THE PROJECT WILL PROCEED IN THREE PHASES: PILOT IMPLEMENTATION (PHASE I), FULL IMPLEMENTATION (PHASE II), AND DISTRIBUTION (PHASE III). PHASE I WILL EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY, UTILITY, AND COST OF TRANSFORMING THE MAINFRAME-COMPUTER ARCHIVE'S DATA AND DOCUMENTATION INTO PRODUCTS SUITABLE FOR MICROCOMPUTER USE AND ANALYSIS. PHASE I WILL ALSO EVALUATE THE STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED DATA ARCHIVE RELATIVE TO ITS MAINFRAME TWIN. IF WARRANTED BY RESULTS FROM PHASE I, THE COMPLETE ARCHIVE--CONSISTING OF A SET OF 50-60 IMPORTANT DATA BASES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION, ACCOMPANIED BY SAMPLE EXERCISES FOR EDUCATIONAL USE--WILL BE ESTABLISHED. IN PHASE III THE ARCHIVE'S PRODUCTS WILL BE MARKETED TO DATA DEPOSITORIES, UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, COLLEGE PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS INTERESTED IN ADOLESCENT AND YOUTH-DEVELOPMENT ISSUES (SUCH AS PRACTITIONERS AND POLICYMAKERS). INSIGHTS GAINED FROM THE PROPOSED STUDY SHOULD BE TRANSFERABLE TO THE ARCHIVING AND ANALYSIS OF DATA SETS DEALING WITH SUBSTANTIVE TOPICS OTHER THAN TEENAGE SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY; FUTURE WORK SAY EXPLORE THESE POSSIBILITIES.