Myron Gutmann reflects on his time as director of ICPSR from 2001 to 2009. He considers ICPSR's impact and place in the social science research community to be extraordinary. Some of his greatest accomplishments include confirming ICPSR's position as the most forward-looking data archive and broadening the collection's subject matter by adding new topical archives. He sees opportunities for ICPSR in expanding its education data collection and promoting interdisciplinary research through partnerships. While grant funding grew under his leadership, he believes there is still room for growth in sponsor revenue.

1. ICPSR BULLETIN
Volume XXX, No. 2 Spring 2010
Reflecting on Years of Leadership Myron Gutmann
is an assistant
After six months away from ICPSR, Dr. Myron director at the
Gutmann considers his time as director National Science
Foundation in
After spending most of the 2000s as a meeting of education researchers charge of the
ICPSR’s director, Myron Gutmann ... it was great because the chair of Social, Behav-
left last November to lead the the session and then one of the other ioral and Eco-
National Science Foundation’s Social, presenters actually spent a lot of time nomic Sciences directorate. He was
Behavioral and Economic Sciences talking about ICPSR. It showed ICPSR director of ICPSR from August 2001
directorate. Gutmann visited Ann as this unique place in the research to October 2009. He has authored
Arbor this spring and reflected on his world. and edited numerous books and
time at ICPSR. articles; his research interests include
When you’re in the middle of it, it interdisciplinary historical popula-
Question: With the benefit of some seems like that’s just everything in the tion studies, the preservation and
distance, what is your perspective on world. But when you step back from sharing of digital material, and the
your time at ICPSR and the place of it, it’s still in the middle of everything most effective ways to protect the
the organization in the social science that happens in the social science confidentiality of research subjects.
community? research community. It’s everyone’s He has a Ph.D. from Princeton
point of reference about data. University.
Answer: It’s an extraordinary place
to work with an extraordinary impact. What I took away from that experience
A few weeks ago I was on a panel at is that ICPSR is still the place where Q: What do you consider some of
interesting things happen and where, your greatest accomplishments during
whatever we believe may not be perfect your time at ICPSR?
In this issue [at ICPSR], it’s still way ahead of
every other place. And that goes from A: I think that confirming ICPSR’s
Q & A with Dr. Myron Gutmann 1
how people get along to cutting-edge place as the most forward-looking data
RCMD acquires new data on 4 activities in support of research and archive is certainly something that all
Mexican Americans data. of us should be really proud of. Over
News and Notes 5 See Gutmann, p. 2

2. A partner in social science research
Gutmann (cont. from page 1)
the eight and a half years that I was DataNet competition at NSF ... Q: Can you think of any missed
here, that’s very much something Activities that span social science opportunities or unfinished business
that we established. and the environment, or that span from your time at ICPSR?
the social sciences and health are key
A second thing would be broadening areas for the future and data that are A: There are always missed
the subject matter by adding to the the seeds of leading-edge things that opportunities, many of which arise
topical archives. We added the topical will take ICPSR into the future. out of our accomplishments, as well
archive in demography, we added the as the fact that the world is changing
topical archive in minority data, we Q: What implications for ICPSR very rapidly. ICPSR needs to position
added the topical archive in child care, do you see in the trend toward itself really well for a world that is
we added the Data-PASS partnership. interdisciplinary research? not going to look the same in two
Continuing to broaden the collection years as it does now. That’s both the
is a really important thing. A: In the area of the things that biggest opportunity and challenge.
ICPSR does, [there are] lots of
Q: What fields are ripe for further opportunities to capitalize on the At the same time, so much of ICPSR’s
expansion of the collection here? trend toward interdisciplinary work involves providing services
research. There are big challenges to government agencies. That’s
A: I think that the next area in moving in this direction because unlikely to change, but the federal
certainly needs to be education, it’s not necessarily clear that ICPSR government’s new emphasis on open
both because there is a lot of work should hold all the environmental government and access to information
going on in that area and because, data or all the biomedical data. may complicate ICPSR’s role, both
as a policy-related issue, the federal Rather, [ICPSR needs] to find ways to by bringing new competitors and by
government is investing massively partner with other collections to make increasing the volume of information
now in improving education. the most of the environmental and that needs to be distributed. I’m
health data that will support research convinced that ICPSR’s staff and
[ICPSR is] not going to wind up together with the social science leadership is more than adequate to
necessarily holding all of those data data in ICPSR’s collections. [ICPSR stay ahead of these challenges.
collections. There’s a big investment needs] to visualize a mechanism for
being passed along to the states to interchange. Q: When you were director, grant
systematize their educational data. funding grew significantly while
Essentially, they want to do what a The same thing goes for national membership revenue was stable. Is
few states like Florida have already boundaries. Internationalization there much more room for growth
done: to collect data about children will stretch the social sciences, and in that area, or any danger of
from the time they enter preschool ICPSR needs to stay at the forefront. devaluing the membership side of it?
until they finish university, in order If you think about the traditional
to have a systemic body of data that social science data and survey data, A: This is an old question. I raised
tells us how well students are doing most samples are national or involve this to Council every year I was
and how well schools are doing. parallel surveys replicated in different ICPSR director. Is there room for
countries. Some of the newest more growth? That links back to the
ICPSR has a really important role to social and behavioral research these last question about open government.
play potentially in terms of collections, days goes beyond those sources, to I believe that there will be continued
but also in terms of being a resource use information from commercial opportunities for substantial growth
on how to maintain the collections transactions or the events in online in sponsor revenue from grants
that are in public hands, and for the multiplayer games or from Facebook and contracts, both because there’s
tools and techniques that are needed to pages. If that’s the case, how do you an increasing recognition in the
manage them for research. define national boundaries in an science community that data need
archive of Facebook pages? to be redistributed, and ICPSR has
The second area would be some of a unique capacity to support that;
the things that we’re doing as part and because of the recognition in
of the pending proposals for the See Gutmann, p. 3
2

3. Gutmann (cont. from page 2)
the government data community that students or their faculty contribute to scientific challenges. I’m involved
there is now going to be a permanent the curation process? in science policy at the federal level
expectation, no matter which party to make sure that we identify those
is in power, that data will be made challenges and then select the best
scientists with the most creative ideas
to work on them. I’m also an advocate
for the social and behavioral sciences,
in order to make sure that the broader
scientific community is including the
human sciences in everything they
do. The current moment is wonderful
because the social and behavioral
sciences are part of what almost
everyone in the scientific world is
thinking about. ICPSR taught me
to think very broadly about areas of
research. That preparation allows me
to bring a well-informed approach to
what I’m now doing on the science
policy side. We’re working on subjects
like research into behavior and
education, research about human
decision-making as it applies to the
ICPSR Grant/Contract Revenue vs. Membership Revenue
environment and energy use, and
about how human behavior matters as
available for widespread use. Q: Considering ICPSR’s new we roll out more and more technology
partnership with Thomson-Reuters, in our schools, in health care and
ICPSR’s membership needs to be do you see much potential for health records, and in our lives
sensitive to the changing structure of partnerships with the private sector? more generally. With good science
the revenue stream. will come better knowledge about
A: In an environment that is ourselves and our society, and better
Just before I started as Director in increasingly integrated, there’s a ways to develop policy to serve our
2001, membership and Summer strong role for partnerships with country.
Program revenue combined were the private sector, especially if they
about equal to sponsored revenue. provide ICPSR with opportunities
Now it’s about half as much, and I and content that were not otherwise
believe the trend is going to continue available. But I don’t see them as a For more information
in that way ... If the membership can’t major way of generating revenue.
keep up financially, it may need to find Financial figures on grant and
other ways to contribute. Are there Q: Tell us a bit about what your job contract revenue vs. membership
ways they can contribute in kind as at NSF is like. are available in our Annual
opposed to money, and what would Report.
those in-kind contributions be? In a A: My job, on top of the day-to-day
world of distributed computing, are management role, is to make sure A listing of all grants and
they contributing on the computing that NSF’s investment in the [social, contracts secured by ICPSR
side? In a world of distributed behavioral, and economic] sciences researchers was recently added to
curation, could their staff or their is appropriate and moving forward to our Web site.
solve the most important public and
ICPSR Bulletin Spring 2010 3

4. A partner in social science research
RCMD acquires data on Mexican Americans that
were lost for decades and rediscovered at UCLA
By John Garcia
Director, Resource Center for Minority Data
In the early 1990s, construction They then combined the findings
workers at the University of to construct a 35-year analysis of John Garcia,
California, Los Angeles, discovered Mexican American integration into director of the
a box full of papers and magnetic American society. Resource Center
tapes. The material turned out to for Minority
be a decades-old study of the social, ICPSR will process, archive, and Data, has a Ph.D.
economic, and political conditions disseminate not only the original from Florida
of Mexican Americans living in the MASP files, but also the new data State University
southwest known as the Mexican collected by Telles and Ortiz. and holds a
American Study Project (MASP). professorship at the University of
Now, with processing of the data Generations of Exclusion measures Arizona. His relationship with
under way at ICPSR for inclusion Mexican American integration ICPSR dates back to attending the
in our data collection, the MASP across a number of dimensions:
Summer Program as a graduate
will add another dimension to its education, English and Spanish
reinvigorated status. language use, socioeconomic student in 1969 and includes roles as
status, intermarriage, residential visiting researcher and instructor.
MASP was a three-year study of segregation, ethnic identity, His primary areas of research include
more than 3.5 million Mexican and political participation. The minority group politics, and political
Americans from the mid-1960s. study provided some encouraging behavior and mobilization.
Acquisition of the data fits with the findings, but many more that
mission of ICPSR, and specifically are troubling. Linguistically,
the pursuit by the Resource Center Mexican Americans assimilate expanding its accessibility for
into mainstream America quite further examination by the larger
for Minority Data (RCMD) of a
well — by the second generation, research community. In addition,
more pro-active posture in the
nearly all Mexican Americans the extension of the MASP into a
identification of important studies achieve English proficiency. In many multi-generational study of more
focusing on minority populations domains, however, the Mexican
and their experiences in the United contemporary relevance allows the
American story doesn’t fit with possibility of linking the findings
States. traditional models of assimilation. to more recent outcomes. The
The majority of fourth-generation subsequent research by Telles and
RCMD contacted UCLA researchers Mexican Americans continue to Ortiz has provided a troubling
in the fall about depositing the study, live in Latino neighborhoods and glimpse of what other immigrant
and this spring received the data to marry other Latinos. They continue
groups may experience in the future.
begin processing. UCLA archivists to think of themselves as Mexicans.
Elizabeth Stephenson and Charlotte Economic mobility was notable from
Brown rediscovered the MASP. Two the first to second generation, but RCMD seeks to serve as a portal
UCLA sociologists, Vilma Ortiz economic progress halts beyond the to explore minority groups in
and Edward Telles, designed a new second generation and poverty rates America by assisting in the public
project based on the data, resulting remain high for later generations. dissemination and preservation of
in the book Generations of Exclusion: Educational achievement also peaks quality data to generate more “good
Mexican Americans, Assimilation, and among the second generation, science” for years to come. This
Race (Sage Foundation Press, 2008). but degenerates for subsequent acquisition hopefully represents one
This study located the surviving generations. of many more discoveries by RCMD
respondents of the MASP and re- to make possible the broadest
interviewed them and their children RCMD’s role in this discovery chain scope of research endeavors and
and grandchildren, if applicable. lies in insuring the preservation examinations.
of this important study and

5. INTER-UNIVERSITY
News and Notes ...
CONSORTIUM FOR
Search begins for new IFSS releases harmonized
POLITICAL AND director dataset
SOCIAL RESEARCH
With the appointment of Myron The Integrated Fertility Survey
George Alter, Acting Director
Mary Vardigan, Assistant Director
Gutmann to a position at the Series (IFSS) project at ICPSR
National Science Foundation, is pleased to announce the
ICPSR has begun the search release of a harmonized dataset.
Council Members process for a new director. The data, consisting of more
Ann Wolpert, Chair
than 90 sociodemographic
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A search committee has been variables spanning 10 studies,
formed, chaired by Pamela five decades, and more than
Francine Berman Smock of the Population Studies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 71,000 respondents, have
Center at the Institute for Social been harmonized to facilitate
G. Sayeed Choudhury Research at the University of easy comparisons between the
Johns Hopkins University Michigan. ICPSR is one of five
component surveys. Online
Paul N. Courant research centers within ISR.
analysis functionality is available
University of Michigan Other members of the search
for this first release.
Catherine A. Fitch
committee include five ICPSR
University of Minnesota Council members and two
ICPSR researchers. With funding from the Eunice
Thomas LaVeist Kennedy Shriver National
Johns Hopkins University Institute of Child Health and
The services of J. Robert Scott
Jeffrey Moon Executive Search of Boston have Human Development, the IFSS
Queen’s University
also been enlisted. project seeks to 1) develop
Gregory Price a harmonized data file and
Morehouse College ICPSR seeks candidates who can accompanying metadata for
Rogelio Saenz provide innovative leadership users interested in changes in
Texas A&M University in all aspects of the institute’s fertility and the family; 2) create,
mission. Candidates must have archive, and distribute clean,
Barbara Schneider
Michigan State University significant experience with standardized electronic data files
quantitative social science and documentation for the 10
Lori M. Weber
research and instruction, and a component surveys; 3) equip
California State University, Chico
strong record of peer-reviewed IFSS studies with online data
Christopher Zorn publications and grant funding. analysis tools to allow for quick
Pennsylvania State University
analyses; and 4) offer complete
Aletha C. Huston, Past Chair For more information, see our documentation, tutorials, and
University of Texas, Austin Careers and Internships page. other user support.
Bulletin Staff Feedback sought on download process
In the next few months, ICPSR will begin an evaluation
Editor: Dan Meisler
dmeisler@umich.edu of its download mechanism. Specifically we want to look
(734) 615-7904 at how the data download can be improved/streamlined. To that end, we’d appreciate
your feedback. Please take a moment to let us know what you think of our data
download mechanisms, and suggest areas for improvement. You can either email us your
suggestions at web-support@icpsr.umich.edu or fill out a simple Web form.
ICPSR Bulletin Spring 2010 5