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Science Data (science + data)
Kinds of Science Data Selected AbstractsAnalysis of Multivariate Social Science DataJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 2 2010Tim Futing Liao No abstract is available for this article. [source] Improving the evidence base for international comparative researchINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 193-194 2008Ekkehard Mochmann Industrial societies today produce abundant data fed by the statistical system, social research, market research and administrative data. This is increasingly complemented by processing data produced from sources like commercial transactions. Looking at societies in an international comparative perspective, however, we find many incoherent patterns or even white spots on the globe. Nevertheless, we can observe encouraging progress over past decades. The pioneers of the data movement worked towards an international network of data infrastructures that were conceived as building blocks in a system of social observation. Gaps in the statistical data base had to be filled by sample surveys from social research. This resulted in a network of social science data services to preserve and process the data collected to make them available for secondary analysis, and systematic efforts to continuously collect data comparative by design and to make them available as a public good to the scientific community at large. Increasingly we can observe a rapprochement that has been taking place between social policy and social research since the turn of the millennium. Facing the challenges of globalisation we cannot however, overlook the fact that in spite of all progress, social science data have been collected predominantly with a national perspective, are not well integrated and , even if they are technically and legally accessible , do not easily lend themselves to comparison between nations or periods of time. International data programmes may well profit from the methodological standardisation and harmonisation of measurements as well as from technical progress towards the easier access to and interoperability of data bases. These processes will profit much, if growing efforts to agree on data policies and funding perspectives for international and transcontinental cooperation succeed. [source] Determining the optimum scan map strategy for Herschel -SPIRE using the SPIRE photometer simulatorMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007T. J. Waskett ABSTRACT The forthcoming Herschel space mission will provide an unprecedented view of the far-infrared/submillimetre Universe, with the SPIRE instrument covering the 200,670 ,m wavelength range. To obtain the best quality of astronomical data from such an expensive mission the observing modes must be optimized as far as possible. This paper presents the possible scanning strategies that can be utilized by the SPIRE photometer, within the limitations imposed by the Herschel spacecraft. Each strategy is investigated for effectiveness by performing simulated observations, using the SPIRE photometer simulator. By quantifying the data quality using a simple metric, we have been able to select the optimum scanning strategy for SPIRE when it begins taking science data within the next couple of years. Additionally, this work has led to the development of a specific SPIRE mapmaking algorithm, based on the CMB code MADmap, to be provided as part of the SPIRE data pipeline processing suite. This will allow every SPIRE user to take full advantage of the optimized scan map strategy, which requires the use of maximum likelihood mapmakers such as MADmap. [source] Documentation evaluation model for social science dataPROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2008Jinfang Niu Information technology and data sharing policies have made more and more social science data available for secondary analysis. In secondary data analysis, documentation plays a critical role in transferring knowledge about data from data producers to secondary users. Despite its importance, documentation of social science data has rarely been the focus of existing studies. In this paper, based on an introduction of the concept of documentation and its role in secondary data analysis, the authors proposed the Documentation Evaluation Model(DEM) for social science data. In the model, two indicators are used to evaluate the documentation for social science data: sufficiency and ease-of-use. Then the authors review the sufficiency problems of documentation, identify three factors that affect the sufficiency of documentation: users, data, and the ease-of-use of documentation, and formulate hypotheses about how those factors affect the sufficiency of documentation. In future research, a survey instrument will be created based on the model and the factors affecting the sufficiency of documentation. The survey instrument will then be applied to the secondary users of social science data. Hypotheses will be tested based on the survey data. [source] SUNRISE , Impressions from a successful science flightASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 6 2010W. Schmidt Abstract SUNRISE is a balloon-borne telescope with an aperture of one meter. It is equipped with a filter imager for the UV wavelength range between 214 nm and 400 nm (SUFI), and with a spectro-polarimeter that measures the magnetic field of the photosphere using the Fe I line at 525.02 nm that has a Landé factor of 3. SUNRISE performed its first science flight from 8 to 14 June 2009. It was launched at the Swedish ESRANGE Space Center and cruised at an altitude of about 36 km and geographic latitudes between 70 and 74 degrees to Somerset Island in northern Canada. There, all data, the telescope and the gondola were successfully recovered. During its flight, Sunrise achieved high pointing stability during 33 hours, and recorded about 1.8 TB of science data. Already at this early stage of data processing it is clear that SUNRISE recorded UV images of the solar photosphere, and spectropolarimetric measurements of the quiet Sun's magnetic field of unprecedented quality (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] |