Categories of data
In principle, the data is available at the FDZ at the IQB in anonymous form, i.e. a personal reference cannot be established directly. At its discretion, the FDZ at the IQB takes measures to exclude any personal reference from the data stock while preserving the analytical potential of the data records. Depending on the sensitivity of the information and the access regulations of the data providers, data records are made available via different access paths. The data may only be used for non-commercial scientific research and, in the case of campus files, for academic teaching.
Scientific Use Files (SUFs)
By default, the FDZ at the IQB provides Scientific Use Files (SUFs). The SUFs have already been made so anonymous that no personal reference can be established. SUFs are made available to data users by the FDZ at the IQB after the conclusion of a data use agreement in which further terms of use are regulated.
Scientific analyses with data versions that are subject to special access restrictions for data protection reasons are possible via a specially protected access path (e.g. remote computing). In such analyses, the outputs of results are checked by the FDZ at the IQB for compliance with data protection and contractual provisions before they are placed at the disposal of the researchers.
If you wish to apply for access to Scientific Use Files, please refer to our guidelines for the SUF application procedure. Applications can only be submitted online using the online application form.
CampusFiles (CFs)
The FDZ already offers CampusFiles (CFs) for some of the existing studies and is continuously expanding this offer. CampusFiles are currently available for the following studies:
- IQB National Assessment Study in Primary Schools 2011 (IQB-LV 2011)
- Criterion-referenced Adaptive Testing in Higher Education (KAT-HS)
- Programme for International Student Assessment - Plus 2012, 2013 (PISAPlus 2012, 2013)
Campus Files (CFs) are anonymous data records designed for use in university teaching. They are particularly suitable for teaching in the field of statistics and empirical research methods. Compared to SUFs, CFs have significantly smaller sample sizes and a reduced selection of variables. Furthermore, additional anonymization steps were carried out during the compilation. On the one hand, CFs generally do not contain any regional information (e.g. federal state). On the other hand, the data are made even more anonymous through various procedures than in SUFs. Thus, all background characteristics (e.g. age, gender, immigration background, social background) in the data were generated completely synthetically. This means that characteristic values on these variables were randomly distributed among the persons in the data records and have no consistency with the corresponding SUFs. As a consequence, it is not possible to assign characteristic values unambiguously to individual characteristic carriers in the CFs. The synthetic data generation of the CFs was carried out in such a way that correlations between the variables in comparison to the corresponding SUFs largely remain. This means that CFs can be used, for example, in teaching to teach preparation and evaluation methods and to prepare evaluation syntaxes for corresponding SUFs and can also be used in seminar papers and the like. However, the analysis potential of the data sets is reduced. For example, analyses based on CFs can lead to results that deviate from those of corresponding SUFs when it comes to answering questions on content.
No data use agreement is required to access Campus Files. If you wish to apply for access to Campus Files, please refer to our guidelines for the CF application procedure. Applications can only be submitted online using the online application form.
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