Social Science Research and Instructional Center

Founded in 1971, the Social Science Research and Instructional Center (SSRIC) is the oldest discipline council in the CSU. The Council’s mission is to foster quantitative social science inquiry by students and faculty. Each CSU campus is entitled to appoint a representative to the Council, which meets three times each year.

Visit the SSRIC website to learn about its databases and features.

Product Details

The original focus of the Council was to oversee the CSU’s membership in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), which was and remains the world’s premier social science data archive. Today, in addition to the ICPSR, the Council oversees CSU licensing agreements with The Field Institute (which conducts the California Poll), and the Roper Center for Opinion Research.

The Council provides a number of value-added services. These include:

  • Workshops for faculty, presented by Council members. Currently, workshops are available on the use of data bases and on SPSS (a statistical software package) at both the introductory and intermediate levels.
  • An annual Student Research Conference at which both undergraduate and graduate students present their work in a setting patterned after that of a professional conference. The 36th annual Student Research Conference was held at San Jose State in 2011.
  • Assistance to faculty and advanced graduate students wishing to attend the ICPSR Summer Program
  • Selection of faculty research proposals to include questions on the CA Poll.
  • Participation in the governance of the ICPSR. Over the years, four SSRIC representatives have served on the ICPSR’s Council. SSRIC representatives also participate at the ICPSR’s biennial Official Representatives (OR’s) meeting. Ed Nelson (Fresno) was recently selected for an ICPSR Flanigan Award in recognition of his contributions as an OR. Lori Weber (Chico) was selected as an OR Sabbatical fellowship at the ICPSR headquarters in Ann Arbor Michigan for the summer of 2006.
  • The Teaching Resources Depository (TRD). The TRD includes instructional modules and exercises, an SPSS tutorial, a Website for introductory research methods courses in political science, and various other curricular materials.
  • A Website (www.ssric.org) providing visitors with information on these programs and activities.
     

The Council plans to build on these successes with new initiatives, including:

  • Sponsorship of additional materials for the TRD, including awards of honoraria to faculty producing new instructional modules.
  • Acquisition of a license to create instructional databases in DSA (Survey documentation and Analysis) format.
     

Additional Information Links

Use Policy

California State University, Long Beach subscribes to the CSU Social Science Research and Instructional Center (SSRIC). It is an annual subscription coordinated by Academic Technology Services. The center is managed by the Social Science Research and Instructional Council, which consists of faculty and staff representatives from the CSU campuses. It provides online databases to download for secondary analysis, technical support and classroom teaching modules in the social sciences. Faculty, staff and students are eligible to use this online resource.

Support

The Software Depot team can support users with questions, problems or suggestions regarding the SSRIC Specialty Center license.