BUILDING A BETTER RESEARCHER EXPERIENCE WITH PPOPDATA
We’re pleased to highlight a recent collaboration between the UBC Data Science and Health (DASH) cluster and Population Data BC (PopData). This joint project aimed to better understand challenges researchers have with navigating data access and ultimately improve efficiency.
Last year, PopData users were surveyed and interviewed to gather user experiences, identify knowledge gaps, and recommendations for improvement.
Two key themes emerged:
- Improving the timelines, speed, and predictability of the data access process, and
- Enhancing knowledge and support around data access procedures.
Researchers expressed the need for more transparency in processing timelines, real-time status updates, and clearer guidance materials, while also highlighting the positive support they received from PopData staff.
As a result, the PopData website has been updated and reorganized to help researchers navigate to important resources and better plan and manage their data requests. These changes were also informed by feedback from PopData’s newly established Researcher Advisory Committee.
A new Intake Meeting has been introduced for all data access applications. Researchers meet with a staff member from PopData’a Data Access Unit to help plan, complete and submit a Data Access Request (DAR) with confidence.
PopData has also created a new resource to support the use of the Secure Research Environment. Sample SAS programs are now available to assist researchers in moving flat files into SAS software for analysis. These SAS data sets will save analyst time and help create high quality labelled SAS data sets from the dat.gz DATA files.
In recent months, the Researcher Starter Kit has been expanded to include more DAR examples, additional Frequently Asked Questions, detailed information about timelines and expectations, and an updated fee schedule with information to assist researchers with accessing the appropriate data stream for their project.
The data access landscape in BC is changing with the expansion of the Health Data Platform BC for academic research projects requiring health data. We will keep you informed on any new updates or changes to processes to ensure there is clarity on how changes may impact you.
Check out the updates to the PopData BC website now!