Contextual Data Archive, Literature Database

The Contextual Data Archive Literature Database contains a collection of abstracts of publications and documents on the use of contextual data. The collection emphasizes two kinds of materials. The first is research papers of analyses using contextual data either alone or in conjunction with individual-level data sets. The second is methodological papers that address the methods and limitations of contextual data analysis.

Emphasis in selection has been given to materials that are exemplary in their use of contextual data, or in their presentation and elucidation of the key methodological issues in contextual analysis. The abstracts chosen pertain to papers and documents produced during the past ten years (from 1989 onwards to 1998). Exceptions have been made in the case of articles that are considered pioneering or path breaking in the field of contextual analyses. The following were included in the abstract to the extent relevant and possible: purpose of the study, study design and sample, unit of analysis, sources of data (especially contextual data), key concepts measured, and principal findings. The search and retrieval software included in the literature database, allows full-text or field keyword searches of the abstracts. Full-text retrieval capabilities allow each word in textual material to serve as a search keyword. The program allows the user to conduct a keyword search of the bibliographic data base using a global search (across all text in the data base) or on selected fields. The most important fields for searching include author, title, date, journal, abstract, and keywords (based on the topic and type classification).

There are currently 236 citations included in the data base. These cover articles and papers from Sociology, Demography, Economics, Social Psychology, Criminology, Public Health, and Education.