An Archive of machine-readable data from 20-40 of the best U.S. studies dealing with social research on aging will be established. Each data set in the Archive will be packaged and made publicly available according to data archiving standards successfully developed by Sociometrics Corporation for prior social science archives. For each data set, three machine-readable files will be disseminated: the raw data, SPSS program statements to transform the raw data to an SPSS analysis file, and SAS program statements to transform the raw data to a SAS analysis file. Files will be disseminated in a variety of media, including CD-ROM, floppy diskette, Bernoulli Box cartridge, and mainframe tape. A User's Guide that gives the purpose; sampling, data collection, and instrumentation procedures; and variables included in the data set will be provided. The Archive will also include: (1) Search and Retrieval Software capable of retrieving information across data sets at both the individual-variable and study levels; (2) a Meta Analysis Textbook with actual examples from the Archive of Social Research on Aging; and (3) Modular Course Material to facilitate use of the Archive in both substantive and methods courses on Aging Social Research. The entire contents of the Archive--including the raw data, the SPSS and SAS program statements, the user's guides, the search and retrieval software, the meta analysis textbook, and a modular course material--will be assembled into a single CD-ROM microcomputer product in Phase II. Phase I will be devoted to producing prototypes for all new products, to conducting a needs survey of potential clients, and to lining up a National Advisory Panel and product test sites for Phase II. Phase II will finish all products, and package them into user's choice of individual data sets, or the CD-ROM, or a complete Aging Social Research Laboratory providing the microcomputer hardware, software, installation, and training services required to use the Archive.
