On site at a Federal Statistical RDC

NCHS RDC Analyst

FSRDC Administrators

Before Submitting a Proposal

Before Your Visit

Rules

The Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) are managed by the United States Census Bureau. The Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics have agreed to make most NCHS restricted data available to approved researchers through the Federal Statistical Research Data Center network.

The US Census Bureau manages several sites throughout the United States:

• Locations and contact information

During the process, you will interact with your assigned NCHS RDC Analyst as well as the FSRDC Administrator. It is important to remember the NCHS RDC Analyst and FSRDC Administrators have their own roles and responsibilities.

 

NCHS RDC Analyst

• Facilitates review of your proposal
• Creates your analytic data set
• Accepts NCHS payment
• Accepts your NCHS Confidentiality requirements
• Transfers your dataset to Census
• Reviews your output for disclosure risk
• At any time, if you have questions, please contact your NCHS RDC Analyst.

Census RDC Administrators

• Answer logistical questions about the FSRDC such as, statistical software availability, and Census Fees
• Ensure you have completed all the Census Bureau Security requirements
• Accepts Census payments
• Census transfers your output to NCHS for a review

Before Submitting a Proposal

Researchers interested in accessing NCHS data through a Federal Statistical RDC must submit their proposals directly to NCHS. You will not have to submit a separate proposal to the FSRDC but, in addition to the NCHS requirements, you will be required to follow all requirements that the Census Bureau imposes to protect the security and confidentiality of the data. If you are considering using an FSRDC, contact your FSRDC Administrator to discuss access requirements, how to obtain Special Sworn Status (SSS), and fees for using the FSRDC as well as any other logistical concerns. Please note NCHS and Census fees are independent of each other.

Before Your Visit

In addition, to the NCHS requirements outlined by your RDC Analyst, the following steps should occur after you receive an approval email from your RDC Analyst:

1. To work in a FSRDC, you must have Special Sworn Status (SSS) from Census. This process takes approximately 4-6 weeks and will not begin until after NCHS approval.
2. Inform your RDC Analyst once your SSS is approved and your Census account has been created. It is important to keep your RDC Analyst aware of where you are in the process.
3. When all NCHS and FSRDC requirements are completed, the RDC Analyst will transfer your data to Census.
4. Contact your FSRDC Administrator to schedule your time in the lab. You are only authorized to use the lab when a FSRDC Administrator or designee is present.
5. Email your statistical programming code and reference documentation (codebooks, statistical reference materials, etc.) to your RDC Analyst. RDC computers do not have access to the Internet nor do we allow flash drives, therefore all documents must be emailed at least one business day before your visit. The RDC Analyst will review and transfer the documents to Census .

Rules

While working at a FSRDC you are subject to all the same rules and restrictions as NCHS on site users in addition to following rule(s):

NCHS Onsite Rules

1. You must send your RDC Analyst an email requesting output review. Please allow three weeks to receive your approved output.

 

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