The complexity of longitudinal data can be daunting to researchers and other possible users of the data. Consequently, these data have been underutilized relative to their potential to address the social, economic, and health-care concerns that face the nation, including the increasing prominence of the aged in American society. This innovative application of emerging information processing technology to the use of such data sets as the Health and Retirement Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study promises to dramatically increase the utilization of these and similar data sets. The project will develop and integrate specialized tools optimized for the management and analysis of longitudinal data. Multimedia technology will provide convenient access to metadata ranging from technical documentation to instructional materials. High performance computing technology will allow complex manipulations of data to be accomplished in seconds. The project brings together an interdisciplinary team that includes renowned social science researchers and computer engineers who have demonstrated the capability to create innovative systems that are revolutionizing the use of large and complex data sets in the social sciences.
Initial applications will be in the academic and specialized research sectors. Similar applications of the technology by firms wishing to utilize their own proprietary data sets could prove to be more profitable.
