This application is for researchers requesting access to ANES restricted data.
Investigator refers to the researcher who holds a permanent faculty appointment at the Receiving Agency and assumes all responsibility for Receiving Agency employees’ compliance with all terms of any resulting agreement.
Receiving Agency is the organization employing the Investigator. The Receiving Agency must have an Institutional Review Board/Human Subjects Review Committee that is registered with the United States Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).
This application includes 5 sections:
A: Contact Information
B: Restricted Data Requested
C: Research Plan
D: Disclosure Protection Plan
E: Data Protection Plan
If the space provided for a response is inadequate, additional pages may be added as necessary.
Part A: Contact Information
Investigator Information
Name
Receiving Agency
Mailing Address
Research Staff Information
Please list all Research Staff that will have access to the Restricted Data. All staff must be associated with the Investigator’s Receiving Agency and may access Restricted Data only under the Investigator’s supervision.
Name
Name
Name
Name
If this application is part of a multi-institution collaboration, please indicate other Receiving Agencies:
Part B: Restricted Data Requested
Please list the Restricted Data you are requesting (if requesting pre-prepared geocode files, please refer to the inventory table to determine if your data are available).
______
______
______
If the Restricted Data you are requesting are not already available as part of a pre-prepared geocode file, please send your inquiry to the ANES staff at
Part C: Research Plan
Please include your complete Research Plan indicating:
· Why the Restricted Data are needed to conduct the proposed research;
· Why there are no alternatives to the use of Restricted Data for the proposed research;
· How the Restricted Data will be used; and
· The scientific importance of the proposed research.
If this research builds on past research by the Investigator or others, please describe the past research.
If applicable, describe in detail data from any other source that will be merged with the Restricted Data. Please keep in mind that files that result from a merge process that includes Restricted Data are by definition also to be considered as Restricted Data and are therefore subject to ANES requirements relating to, for example, confidentiality, disclosure, and return upon termination of any resulting agreement.
Part D: Disclosure Protection Plan
Please describe the Disclosure Protection Plan by which the Investigator and Research Staff will avoid inadvertent disclosure of respondent identities in all resulting research and/or work, including, but not limited to, working papers, publications, and presentations. If ANES approves your application, this Disclosure
Protection Plan will become part of the signed agreement.
In any presentations or publications, Investigators and Research Staff should use only statistical information that does not permit the identification of any individual person, family, household, or employer. The Investigator and Research Staff must agree to exclude from any type of publication or presentation the listing and description of individual cases, as well as data or quotations from individual cases. The Investigator and Research Staff should not present the results of any analysis that could potentially identify respondents, either directly or indirectly. Only aggregate statistical data may be distributed. Cell sizes, marginal data, and strata must be of sufficient size to avoid disclosure. Investigators and Research Staff may not identify geographic areas at a level of detail more specific than is already available in the associated public files on the ANES website (note: ANES Time Series releases prior to the year 2000 contain geographic detail at Congressional district level and at county level and larger; later Time Series releases contain geographic detail at the levels of Congressional district, state, and region).
If you have questions concerning the disclosure risk of your research products, ANES is available to provide a review. Please provide all materials at least two weeks in advance of their intended publication or release date.
Part E: Data Protection Plan
Please use the following information to inform us of your Data Protection Plan to protect the security of the Restricted Data. If ANES approves your application, the Data Protection Plan will become part of the signed agreement and the Investigator and Research Staff will be contractually obligated to follow all aspects of the Plan.
Workstation(please complete a checklist for each machine) / Workstation
Location (street
address, building,
office number)
_
Operating system
(check one) / o Windows 7 Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate
o Macintosh OS X (10.4 and above)
o Unix family (specify)
o Other (specify) _
Workstation Specifications / Please describe (make/model):
o Yes o No / Are all external network connections to the workstation disabled?
o Yes* o No / Will a laptop be used as the workstation? If yes, provide research justification (this solution is strongly discouraged). You should also explain in detail how wireless connectivity will be disabled. Use the space provided at the end of this section.
o Yes o No* / Is workstation login access limited to person(s) specified in the Restricted Data Agreement and/or Supplemental Agreement?
o Yes o No* / Is the workstation stored in locked office accessible only to the persons specified in the Restricted Data Agreement and/or Supplemental Agreement?
o Yes o No* / Is the workstation monitor positioned to prevent unauthorized viewing?
o Yes o No* / Is physical protection provided for workstation hardware (e.g., BIOS password, locked CPU box)?
Describe:
o Yes* o No / Will removable media be used for storage of restricted data? If yes, in the space provided at the end of this section state: (1) where the removable media to be used will be physically located, (2) how physical access to them is to be restricted and (3) how access to the contents will be controlled.
o Yes o No* / Is a procedure in place to allow secure updating of workstation operating system and applications software?
Describe:
o Yes o No* / Is anti-virus software installed on the workstation?
Describe:
Encryption / o Yes o No* / Is strong encryption (e.g., Bitlocker, Windows Encrypting File System, PGP) installed and in use on the workstation?
Describe:
o Yes o No* / Are restricted data files kept in encrypted form when not in use?
Describe:
Backups / o Yes* o No / Will backups be performed on restricted data files stored on this workstation? If yes, describe the physical and/or software methods to be used.
Printed Output / o Yes o No* / Are procedures in use to minimize the printing of restricted data elements?
o Yes o No* / If a local printer is used for printed output is it located in the same locked office as the standalone workstation?
Use this space for explanatory information concerning starred (*) items:
______/ ______ / ______Restricted Data Investigator Name Title
______/ Institution
______
Signature Date
______/ ______ / ______IT Department Contact Name Title
______/ Phone
______
Signature Date
Data Protection Plan Narrative
Please include a narrative that addresses each of the following topics.
1. Worksite requirements
a) We require that the work environment of ANES Restricted Data users be a secure office or workspace owned by the signing institution. If the workspace is shared, then all occupants must sign the Restricted Data Agreement.
b) You must plan to use ANES restricted data on a Standalone Workstation. The computer/workstation should be physically isolated (air gap) from the outside world.
2. Workstation Storage
If you intend to use a local storage device (hard drive or other electronic or optical fixed device) to store ANES Restricted Data, provide a description of how you will protect the workstation from unauthorized physical and electronic access. Include a discussion of how your encryption software, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, password protection settings, firewall and physical protection methods will interact to produce a secure environment. Describe how the operating system will be configured to limit access to ANES Restricted Data local storage devices; e.g. read/write permission settings, authentication protocols and folder or whole-disk encryption.
3. Use of Removable Media
If you will not be using removable media storage for ANES Restricted Data, state this is your Plan and disregard the rest of this sub-section.
If you will be using removable media storage for restricted data, your plan must state where the removable media to be used will be physically located and how physical access is to be restricted, including provisions for storage in locked cabinets when not in use. Your Plan should also specify how access to the contents of removable storage device files containing ANES Restricted Data will be controlled, e.g., through use of encryption and password protection.
4. Backups
For archival purposes you may make one backup copy of each file containing ANES Restricted Data. If you intend to create such archival backups, your Plan should state that you will make only one copy. The Plan should describe the physical and/or software methods that will be used to protect distribution and backup media from unauthorized users.
5. Paper printouts
Describe how you will restrict access to paper printouts containing information derived from ANES Restricted Data. ANES strongly advises against the creation of any paper printouts containing restricted data, and will be very skeptical of any Restricted Data Protection Plan that proposes the use of such printouts.
If you will not be using such printouts, state this in your Plan and disregard the rest of this sub-section.
If you will be using paper printouts containing restricted data, your Plan must clearly state the uses that will be made of such printouts and the reason(s) why no other media can be used for the same purpose. Your Plan must also specify the means by which you will ensure that such printouts cannot be accessed by unauthorized persons (e.g., kept in locked storage that is accessible only to authorized persons when not in use); how they will be shielded from the vision and reach of unauthorized persons when they are in use; and how they will be destroyed (made unreadable, e.g., through shredding) prior to the termination of the Restricted Data Agreement.
6. Treatment of data derived from Restricted Data
We require a clear statement that you will treat all data derived from restricted data in the same manner as the original restricted data, and that you understand that data derived from restricted data includes, but is not limited to:
a. Subsets of cases or variables from the original restricted data;
b. Numerical or other transformations of one or more variables from the original restricted data, including sums, means, logarithms, or products of formulas;
c. Variable linked to another dataset using variables from an ANES Restricted Dataset as linkage variables.
Investigator Signature
All of the information on this application and made in conjunction with this application is correct and true to the best of my knowledge. I authorize the American National Election Studies (ANES) to verify all information supplied on or in connection with this application.
______
Name (printed)
______
Signature
______
Date
ANES Restricted Data Access: Application – Page 7 of 7