CORE B: DISSEMINATION CORE Overview and Objectives The Dissemination Core is the central mechanism for receipt of data from the Wave IV Data Collection subproject and the cleating house for development, exchange, and sharing of project data and information for Program Project subprojects, Satellite Projects, and the broader scientific research community. Add Health data provides an unparalleled resource for the analysis of adolescent health and health behaviors within the social contexts in which they occur, and research that focuses on the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Over 2,000 researchers nationwide in disciplines ranging from sociology, economics, nutrition, social work, psychology, public administration, medicine, education, health policy, health behavior and health education, epidemiology, biostatistics, maternal and child health, anthropology, criminal justice and corrections, behavioral genetics, and communication and journalism. It is anticipated that the demand for Add Health data will continue to increase, as the third wave of data collection becomes more widely publicized and ultimately when Wave IV data become available. Resources to facilitate the distribution and user-support for public access to Add Health data, fulfilling the data sharing mandate set forth by NIH in 2003, are also necessary to continue Add Health's commitment to national dissemination of all study data. The Dissemination Core will also play a key role in assisting Wave IV Program Investigators with informationsharing to support their research efforts. Developments in field work, data discoveries during cleaning, coding of variable construction, and documentation on special samples will be shared to keep investigators informed and to aid in their project analysis and plans. Manuscripts including working papers, conference presentations, and articles submitted or accepted for publication required for, or resulting from, Wave IV research efforts will be circulated and readily available to all Wave IV investigators. These references will also be appended to a more general list of Add Health manuscripts reflecting scientific contributions from the broader community of Add Health researchers. The Dissemination Core will work closely with the Wave IV Data Collection subproject to plan for the cleaning, documentation and dissemination of Wave IV data. The Core will provide Wave IV Program Investigators and the greater research community with the longitudinal data required to develop the analytic foundations to their research, and will provide analytic and methodological support and documentation needed to analyze Add Health data. In the period immediately following the fieldwork, the Core will work intensely to prepare Wave IV data required for dissemination to the scientific community. When complete, Wave IV data will be linked to the In-School, Wave I, II, and III data and will become the fifth, discrete, data collection timepoint in the study. An important design and field component at Wave IV will be the collection of biomarkers. Add Health already has experience collecting, assaying, and housing a repository of biological specimens collected in the previous Program Project (Wave III). At Wave IV, the number and type of specimens to be collected will expand. Biomarkers for a national sample of respondents who have been followed for over a decade will provide an invaluable resource to the scientific community. At Wave IV, the Dissemination Core will create and expand the specialized management activities associated with receipt, tracking, and maintaining an inventory of specimens to ensure that the archive accurately reflects what specimens are available for future Add Health research. To ensure that awareness and use of Add Health data continues to increase in the research community, an expansive dissemination strategy for new and ongoing research findings is required. The Dissemination Core will be responsible for supporting dissemination efforts including the presentation of Add Health research and research methods, conducting workshops and seminars on the Add Health study at professional meetings, developing training seminars for new users of the data, and developing support documentation for users. The Core will continue to support and maintain the project website as a mechanism to provide background, documentation, and user-support information for current and prospective users of the data. The website will also publicize news, meetings, and events that feature Add Health research. The Dissemination Core's activities will be headed by the Add Health Wave IV Principal Investigator, Kathleen Mullan Harris, with assistance from the Deputy Director, Carolyn T. Halpern. Overall management responsibility for the technical output and services provided by the Dissemination Core will be the responsibility of Francesca Florey, Add Health Project Manager. Technical leadership for data file preparation, cleaning, codebook preparation and data dissemination will be the responsibility of Joyce Tabor, Data Manager Tabor will be assisted by Lani Cartier, Contract Administrative Assistant, Tim Van Acker, Data Security Advisor, Kim Chantala, Statistician and Analyst, Nancy Smith, Web Programmer, and a number of experienced Add Health programmer/analysts including Jose Sandoval, Karin Gleiter, Mariah Cheng, and Aimee Benson. In addition, the Core will have access to experts from the Spatial Analysis Unit at CPC that will assist with the GIS component of the study, Phil Page, Pablo Carvajal and Jay Stewart. The proposed staff for this Core includes all of CPC's most seasoned Add Health managers, programmers and analysts;some who have been with the study since 1994. Many of these individuals have contributed to developing and scaling-up systems for data distribution and dissemination, and all are familiar with the rigor and complexity of the Add Health data security management plan. Additional information about the administrative structure, staffing, and operations is presented below.
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