National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect

Who We Are

The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) serves as a repository for high-quality datasets relevant to the study and prevention of child maltreatment. The Archive's primary goals are to support the research of child maltreatment scholars and to promote secondary data analysis as a critical tool for the advancement of scientific understanding. NDACAN activities include acquiring and processing child maltreatment data for dissemination, providing technical assistance to data users, and conducting workshops and institutes regarding the process of secondary analysis. The Archive is a project of the Family Life Development Center in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

How We Can Help

The Archive promotes and supports the use of its datasets in a number of ways.

Dissemination of Datasets
The Archive distributes datasets to eligible faculty and staff at research centers that have an Institutional Review Board recognized by the U.S. Office for Human Research Protections. The Archive distributes datasets (data files and complete documentation) free of charge. Archive staff also provide users with free technical support. Potential users are encouraged to review the holdings list to identify datasets of interest and then use the extensive online documentation to determine if these datasets will suit their needs.

Summer Research Institute
Conducted annually since 1993, the Summer Research Institute is a secondary data analysis workshop that combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience. Participants are selected on a competitive basis from a wide variety of disciplines including psychology, social work, and medicine. The primary goals of the Institute are to increase utilization of the Archive's holdings and to provide training in secondary analysis to child maltreatment researchers. The Institute also provides researchers a unique opportunity to network and collaborate with other scholars in the field.

NDACAN Publications
The Archive distributes several free publications:

The e-newsletter, The NDACAN Updata, reports on the Archive's activities, highlights new research conducted with the holdings, and announces the availability of new datasets.
The handbook, Depositing Data With the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect: A Handbook for Investigators, outlines data processing and documentation standards for investigators who deposit data in the Archive.
An Archive brochure and Current Holdings flier are also available.

Support for Users and Contributors
The Archive provides free user support to data contributors and data users. This support takes various forms, including advice on appropriate hardware and software configurations, software support and troubleshooting, and consultation on data processing and documentation.

Listserv for Child Maltreatment Researchers
In 1993 the Archive established an Internet discussion group (also known as a listserv, list, or e-conference) to facilitate information exchange and networking among researchers in the field of child abuse and neglect. With hundreds of subscribers, the Child Maltreatment Research discussion group is a major scholarly discussion group in the child welfare field. The list is carefully moderated to ensure on-track discussions and a manageable volume of postings. The scope of the discussion group includes all areas of child abuse and neglect research (e.g., epidemiology, etiology, prevention, consequences, intervention, and treatment) and the full range of research issues (e.g., measurement, instrumentation, statistical analysis, ethics). The list is not open to discussions of program or clinical issues except as they relate to evaluation research.

Website
Detailed information about the Archive and its holdings can be found the website. The site contains all of the publications, order forms, and most dataset documentation for browsing and downloading. Also available are the Archive's latest workshop and product announcements, including the Summer Research Institute announcement and application.

For More Information

Address:	Family Life Development Center Beebe Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone:	607.255.7799
Fax:	607.255.8562
Email:	ndacan@cornell.edu
Website:	http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu
Contact:	John J. Eckenrode, Director Elliott G. Smith, Associate Director

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