Social Policy

Standards Add

DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) Edit

A widely used, international standard for describing data from the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Two versions of the standard are currently maintained in parallel:

  • DDI Codebook (or DDI version 2) is the simpler of the two, and intended for documenting simple survey data for exchange or archiving. Version 2.5 was released in January 2014.
  • DDI Lifecycle (or DDI version 3) is richer and may be used to document datasets at each stage of their lifecycle from conceptualization through to publication and reuse. It is modular and extensible. Version 3.2 was published in March 2014.

Both versions are XML-based and defined using XML Schemas. They were developed and are maintained by the DDI Alliance.

SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange) Edit

A set of common technical and statistical standards and guidelines to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata.

Sponsoring institutions include BIS, ECB, EUROSTAT, IMF, OECD, UN, and the World Bank. Technical Specification 2.1 was amended in May 2012.

Extensions Add

Asset Description Metadata Schema (ADMS) Edit

Used to describe semantic assets, defined as highly reusable metadata (for example: XML schemata, generic data models) and reference data (for example: code lists, taxonomies, dictionaries, vocabularies) that are used for eGovernment system development.

GESMES/TS (Generic Statistical Message for Time Series) Edit

An extension of SDMX used to exchange statistical data and metadata.

Tools Add

Istat SDMX Framework Project Edit

A suite of tools for managing data and metadata in SDMX.

SDMX Editor Edit

A simple tool for managing and accessing statistical metadata, using the SDMX framework.

SDMX Mapping Assistant Edit

A tool to facilitate the mapping between the structural metadata provided by an SDMX-ML Data Structure Definition and those that reside in a database of a dissemination environment.

SDMX Tool Repository Edit

A list of software tools supporting the SDMX standard.

Use Cases Add

Eurostat Edit

The statistical office of the European Union, which implementats SDMX in a number of projects.

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) Edit

A data archive providing leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community; all metadata conforms to the DDI standard.

The Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) Data Archive Edit

Provides members of the scholarly community with access to files associated with scholarly studies for the purpose of replication, for all studies conducted by ISPS-affiliated researchers. ISPS metadata records conform to DDI requirements and include a minimal set of Dublin Core metadata elements.

SDMX Implementations Edit

The SDMX website's list of current and planned practical implimentations from national and international organisations.