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Tools and utilities
The tools listed below comprise a variety of freely-available data or metadata
management and conversion utilities for generating, managing, manipulating and
converting social science data and metadata files.
Before downloading these utilities, prospective users should first read the
documentation and instructions supplied by the developing organisation.
Online data browsing tools
DDI tools
Qualitative tools
Other tools
| Online data browsing tools |
Nesstar
Nesstar is a software system for data publishing and online analysis. The
Nesstar software consists of a set of tools which enable the publication of
data and metadata, web-based dissemination and analysis, and data visualisation
using maps, graphs and tables. Selected UK Data Archive (UKDA) studies are
available online via the
ESDS Nesstar catalogue. |
SDA
project utilities
A number of DDI utilities have been made available by the Survey Documentation
and Analysis (SDA) project, based at the University of California at Berkeley. |
VDC Dataverse
Network
The Virtual Data Center (VDC), based at Harvard University, has created the
Dataverse Network (DVN), a complete open source data archival system, with
multiple
features and capabilities. |
| DDI tools |
DDI
Alliance Tools portal
The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) Foundation Tools Program (DDI-FTP),
initiated by the DDI Alliance, aims to develop and support the implementation
of DDI applications and utilities. The Program consists of a collection of
co-ordinated projects whose outputs will be designed to interoperate. Various
utilities are available to download from the DDI tools portal, and more will be
added. |
DeXtris
DeXtris is an open source utility developed by the Open Data Foundation (ODaF),
to explore XML statistical metadata. It runs in a standard web browser such as
Firefox or Internet Explorer, and can convert between different versions of the
DDI. |
International
Household Survey Network (IHSN)
The IHSN is a partnership of international organisations seeking to improve the
availability, quality and use of survey data in developing countries. A
complete Microdata Management Toolkit,
which includes a DDI/Dublin Core compliant Metadata Editor, a modified Nesstar
Explorer to read the metadata files, and a CD-ROM Builder, is available to
download from the IHSN web site, alongside comprehensive survey methodology and
related documentation. |
Data
collection deposit forms
The data collection deposit form program, developed at the UKDA, is used by
data creators to enter information about studies deposited at the UKDA. It is
subsequently used to create the study's
Data Catalogue record. The program outputs a DDI compliant XML
document.
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DExT
SPSS Reader application
The DExT SPSS reader application, developed as part of the DExT project,
converts data and metadata typically stored in proprietary binary formats
(SPSS) into a generic format and a DDI record for long-term preservation. It
also enables conversion to files for use with various statistical analysis
packages (such as Excel, SPSS, Stata, SAS) or database management systems. |
| Qualitative tools |
QuDEx
To address the problem of incompatibility between qualitative data formats and
analysis software, the UKDA has worked on developing an intermediate data
exchange format. This is necessary for maximising the opportunities for data
sharing and long-term archiving. An open data exchange format has been released
as an XML schema, known as QuDEx. The project worked closely with a number of
key software vendors in order to gain support for take-up of and sustainability
of a format/standard. The QuDEx schema is available with full documentation and
a viewer. |
DExT
DDI-DExT application
Data Exchange Tools (DExT) was a collaborative project between the UKDA and the
ODaF for the development of data archiving and conversion tools. The
project aimed to develop open source utilities for the conversion of
quantitative data into a standard archiving format and export to common
statistical packages or database systems. The application is based on the DDI
specification and supports metadata export to DDI versions 2.0 and 3.0. Further
information is available from the UKDA
DExT project page. |
| Other tools |
IASSIST
file archive
International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology
(IASSIST) members have contributed to a file archive containing a number of
utilities for managing, manipulating and analysing machine-readable social
sciences data files. |
SDMX
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) is an initiative to foster
standards for the exchange of aggregated statistical information. The major
focus is on data presented as time series, although cross-sectional XML formats
are also supported. There are links to web sites where tools are made available
to the user community, generally for free.
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Contact the help desk with details of other
sites/organisations that could be listed here.
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