What is CISER?

The Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research was founded in 1981 to provide support services to social science researchers at Cornell University. Our programs are tailored to the needs of faculty, research staff, and students from departments across campus. We are committed to anticipating the evolving needs of our users.

CISER's mission is reflected in our suite of services:

Computing systems support

• A state-of-the-art computing cluster of multi-processor compute nodes to accommodate a wide range of computing needs.
• Expansive disk storage for research use, secured by daily backups.
• Access to statistical software packages (SAS, SPSS, Stata, Gauss and others), as well as programming utilities and data transfer software.
• A separate, secure computing environment to support use of confidential datasets.

Data access and consulting

• An extensive collection of numeric files in the social sciences, with emphasis on demography, economics and labor, political and social behavior, family life, and health.
• Consulting services to identify, obtain, and use datasets.
• Cornell Restricted Access Data Center (CRADC), with staff who work with data suppliers to provide a secure environment for restricted-use datasets.

Software consulting

• Assistance with use of data files and statistical analysis software.
• HelpDesk support, responding to walk-in, e-mail, instant messaging, and telephone queries.
• A substantial web-based library of sample programs, instructional material on use of the CISER computing cluster, and FAQs.
• Hands-on workshops for SAS, SPSS, Stata, and other software packages for analyzing data.

Since 2004, CISER has been home to the Cornell Census Research Data Center, one of two locations for the New York Census Research Data Center. The Cornell RDC provides access to confidential microdata distributed by the Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, for research use.

National affiliations

CISER is an institutional member of the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

The Cornell Census Research Data Center is affiliated with the New York Census Research Data Center, a consortium of research institutions.

Affiliated colleges

CISER is supported by the following schools and colleges and the Office of the Provost.

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Human Ecology
• Johnson Graduate School of Management
• School of Hotel Administration
• School of Industrial and Labor Relations