Research data centres of the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder

Access to microdata

Public Use Files | Scientific Use Files |
Safe Centres | Remote execution |

The research data centres of the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder provide four different forms of access to selected microdata of official statistics.

Public Use Files
Scientific Use Files
Safe Centres
Remote execution

They differ with regard to both the anonymity of the data which can be used and the form of data provision.

The forms of data use listed above may also be combined with each other. For instance, parts of a data record analysis may take place at a workplace for guest scientists, while other analyses of that survey may be performed via remote execution. Such combination often makes sense especially with longer-term research projects.

Foreign institutions and scientists not subject to German law may gain access to German official microdata as described below. The costs of use for foreign institutions depend on the effort involved and are borne by the applicant.

Public Use Files (PUF)

As absolutely anonymised microdata, standardised Public Use Files (PUF) are available to all those who are interested both within the country and abroad. Due to anonymisation, Public Use Files contain only selected variables. As a rule, variables with a high degree of subject-related detail are aggregated. In most cases, detailed regional breakdowns cannot be made on the basis of Public Use Files.

Public Use Files are offered also in the form of CAMPUS Files (CF), which can be used for free at universities for teaching purposes.

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Scientific Use Files (SUF)

In the form of de facto anonymised microdata, the research data centres offer the microdata of common statistics as standardised Scientific Use Files (SUF) for off-site use to users from the scientific community. These data have a far greater information potential than Public Use Files and they are well-suited for large part of the scientific data analyses. An off-site use is possible at research institutions which are governed by German law. Foreign data users who are not employed by a German research institution may work with de facto anonymised SUFs via remote execution or at the safe centres in the statistical offices.

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Safe Centres

There are PC workplaces at all locations of research data centres where de facto anonymised microdata can be analysed by domestic and foreign guest scientists on the protected premises of the statistical agencies. Here de facto anonymity is achieved not only by an anonymisation of the data (as in the case of Scientific Use Files) but in combination with a controlled data access. This is why these data may contain much more detailed information than the Scientific Use Files submitted in the form of data files.

The PC workplaces are equipped with the common analysis programs (SPSS, SAS, some also with STATA), the installation of additional software is generally possible. A separate PC workplace with an internet connection is available for e-mail communication and World Wide Web searches.

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Remote execution

Remote execution is the only form of access permitting the analysis of formally anonymised original data. However, the data user does not have direct access to the data. The data users receive structural data records (dummy files) which resemble the original material with regard to structure and the values of the variables. With the help of these dummy files, evaluation programs (syntax scripts) can be prepared using the analysis programs SPSS, SAS or STATA, which will then be used by the statistical offices to analyse the original data. After the required confidentiality check has been made, the data users finally receive the results of that analysis.

By means of remote execution, all interested parties (both within the country and abroad) may analyse microdata of official statistics.

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