InfoGuides: Find/Use Data: ICPSR: Download & Import ICPSR Data

Use ICPSR Data

Steps for Downloading Data

Login to ICPSR by clicking the "Access through your institution" button.
- If you already had a MyData account, please use the same email address to maintain account-related records.
- Another option is to use Google, LinkedIn, or ORCID, to sign in to ICPSR.
Select your needed data format from the Quick Download icon.
- If your data files are not in the format you need, they can be imported or converted.
Select the dataset(s) in the study that you want to download.
View the Terms of Use statement.
By downloading data from ICPSR, you are agreeing not to share the data with persons not authorized by ICPSR to receive it.
Download and unzip (uncompress) the file.
- How to unzip files
Open your software and open the data file.
Remember to read the documentation (codebook). It explains what the variables are and helps you to determine which variables you need.

Hints/Advice
Review the View Study Description, also known as Description & Citation for even more details about the study and its files.

Use the Browse Documentation link to decide if the study fits your information needs.

You don't need to login to view the documentation files.
What's included in the documentation files?
- File Manifest - Information on number of files and file sizes for a particular study.
- Related Publications - A bibliography of published and unpublished works that are related to a specific ICPSR study.
- Codebook: What is a codebook?

Once you download your dataset(s) you will need to open the files for analysis. Using the downloaded data requires some basic knowledge of statistical analysis software and techniques. If you need assistance, contact datahelp@gmu.edu for help.

For many of the datasets, you will be able to download the data in SPSS, Stata, SAS or ASCII formats.

Select the file format you need.
Download and unzip (uncompress) the file.
- How to unzip files
Open your software and open the data file.

What if you have to use setup files?

Some datasets come with a data file and a set up file. In some cases only the ASCII format is available (a generic file format).

Setup files allow you to read the ASCII data files into your statistical software package. These files contain the syntax or program code to read the ASCII data and read it into statistical software. ICPSR currently provides setup files for SAS, SPSS, and Stata.

What to do if there is no setup file?

Where Can You Use Statistical Software?

There are several locations where you have access to statistical analysis software.

Mason Virtual Computing Lab. Access statistical analysis software remotely.
Data & Digital Scholarship Services Lab in Fenwick Library. We have a workstations equipped with SAS, SPSS, Stata, R, and several other statistical packages. Email DDSS for assistance and access options.
Places to use statistical software on campus. Consult this chart to see where you can access and use statistical software packages at physical campus locations or through the VCL.

Where Can You Get Help with Using ICPSR and Statistical Software?

Contact Data & Digital Scholarship Services for assistance with using ICPSR, its datasets, and opening and using them in statistical software.

Some studies in the ICPSR data archive are available for online analysis. What does this mean? You can perform some basic statistical analysis or cross-tabulations on your datasets.

Browse list of data that can be analyzed online

If you find the data collection you need, click the Analyze Data. Remember to login using your MyData Account.

There are two different ways to analyze data online: SDA or StatSnap.

StatSnap can do frequencies or cross-tabulations (cross-tabs).
SDA has full analysis capabilities and allows you to run frequencies or cross-tabs.