Full Proposals for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 190)

1.1 Title of Activity
Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic, SLiCA - Remote Access Analysis System

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
SLiCA - RAAS

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Birger Poppel
Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland
Greenland

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)
Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland
ISER, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Anchorage, USA
Université Laval, CEIRA, Canada

1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity
Russia
Norway
Sweden
Finland

1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
791

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Arctic

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
1. Current state of the environment
2. Change in the polar regions
3. Polar-global linkages/tele-connections
4. Exploring new frontiers
5. The polar regions as vantage points
6. The human dimension in polar regions

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
2. Data Management

2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

Link to SLiCA Data Description

SLiCA is an interdisciplinary and international research project, which was founded in 1998. The two major objectives are (1) to develop a new research design for measurement of living conditions and individual well-being among the Inuit and Saami peoples in the Arctic and the indigenous peoples of Chukotka reflecting the welfare priorities of the indigenous peoples and (2) to carry out a survey of living conditions among these peoples. The project is developed in partnership with the indigenous peoples organisations. SLiCA has accomplished the first objective and finished data collection in Canada, Alaska, and Chukotka. By the end of 2006 data collection will be completed also in Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula. The data material will consist of approximately 15.000 personal interviews.

In 2005 and 2006 SLiCA is focusing on achieving two main objectives of the project – concluding analyses and publishing the findings of the analyses. An additional main objective of the project is to make the international data set available to the scientific and indigenous communities of the Arctic as well as to political and administrative decision makers at the local, regional, national and international levels. The original project scope called for the development of a micro data set that could be shared with these communities. Our analyses to date have revealed a major challenge associated with this approach. The protection of the confidentiality of respondents requires collapsing of response categories for such variables as location (e.g. place), occupation, and income. While we anticipated the need for collapsing response categories, we did not anticipate the degree to which this would pose a constraint for multivariate analyses. We further realize that the challenge of providing analytically robust social science data sets and protecting the confidentiality of respondents is common in the Arctic social sciences. We therefore propose to contribute to the IPY goal of expanding our understanding of human dimensions of change in the Arctic by collaborating with an international team to apply and extend the concepts of remote access analysis to the SLiCA international database.

The objective of Remote Access Analysis is to provide researchers with access to a micro data set for analysis (i.e. the individual records of respondents to the SLiCA questionnaire) from their own computers. This capability is particularly valuable in the Arctic given the dispersed character of the scientific and indigenous communities and local political and administrative authorities. We further propose to extend this capability to work with restricted datasets where the sensitivity of data is sufficiently high to warrant restriction of access to the raw data. Researchers and indigenous organizations as well as political and administrative authorities at different levels will be able to conduct analyses while making it impossible to view the micro data set itself.

To accomplish these objectives, the SLiCA international team is collaborating with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan and the Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program (CSM) at the University of California, Berkeley.

Consistent with the IPY goal of fostering a major step forward in our understanding of the human dimensions of change in the Arctic, we propose to have the SLiCA Remote Access Analysis System in place for the 2008 International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, ICASS VI (endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 as an IPY activity), of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association, IASSA. We will provide a demonstration of the System and a training seminar in the use of the system at the conference.

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
The SLiCA research group consists of researchers from a variety of academic backgrounds e.g. anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, economists, political scientists and will for the purpose of implementing this project be expanded by experts in the field of database construction and remote access to databases.

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
The SLiCA international database contributes to the IPY goal of expanding our understanding of human dimensions of change in the Arctic by collaborating with an international team to apply and extend the concepts of remote access analysis.

Focussing on Living conditions in the Arctic, the SLiCA project highlights a variety of questions, problems, concerns and attitudes combining the Inuit worldview with the latest measurement and investigation techniques.

Specifically the SLiCA project addresses the following IPY themes and Questions: Theme # 1, Q: 2-3-4; Theme # 2, Q: 1-2-3; Theme # 3, Q3; Theme # 4, Q: 3-6; and Theme # 6, Q: 1-2-4-6.

This effort contributes to the requirement of the IPY-program for “a network of social observatories, comparative case studies and databanks of social realities” as well as meeting the requirements of “socio-economic surveys, comparative studies and investigations of living conditions of the polar residents…”

The major deliverable will be the SLiCA international database linked to a Remote Access Analysis system.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?

Further details – Development of the concepts of Remote Access Analysis to apply to restricted micro data sets such as SLiCA will require close coordination between the countries making up the international team and the experts in Remote Access Analysis. We anticipate that this coordination will in large part be supported through a web-based system that includes the Remote Access Analysis capability itself, the sharing of results, and a mechanism for researcher collaboration.

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?
Yes. The indigenous peoples participate in the SLiCA project at both the regional and country level through representatives in steering committees, advisory boards and through indigenous researchers participating at all levels. At the national levels the responsibility of data is either with university departments or national statistical institutes.

3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This is a pulse of activity during 2007-2009 within an existing programme

If part of an existing programme please name the programme – Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic, SLiCA

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
Geographically, SLiCA consists of 7 countries and 8 major regions (two in Russia). In each region there is one regional co-ordinator. SLiCA´s international management board consists of these 8 co-ordinators plus SLiCA´s project chief. In each region there exists a local research group and an advisory board consisting of representatives from the indigenous population. Until now SLiCA´s international co-ordination has been handled by Statistics Greenland. In the future SLiCA´s secretariat is intended to be at Ilisimatusarfik/The University of Greenland. This organisational structure will prevail in connection with the implementation of SLiCA´s IPY project - including collaborators from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan and the Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program (CSM) at the University of California, Berkeley. The international management board will implement the conditions and procedures for providing access to the database in coordination with the university departments and statistical institutes.

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
Yes. We understand that the infrastructure developments required to support Remote Access Analysis on restricted data sets can be applied to other Arctic (and non-Arctic) datasets.

The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic has been designed to yield first hand knowledge of the Arctic system as reported by representative samples of Arctic indigenous residents. As such, SLiCA can serve as a cornerstone of a Native Observation System in the Arctic.

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
No

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
*The activity has yet only been linked with one other IPY core activity (#69), but as stated above (see 3.3) the Remote Access Analysis System can be applied to other Arctic datasets and the possibilities will be further explored.
*The intention is to co-operate with the COMAAR project primarily.
* We will furthermore provide a demonstration of the System and a training seminar in the use of the system at the International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, ICASS VI (endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 as an IPY activity - #69), of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association, IASSA to be held in IPY2007-2008.

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
Our intent is to make the data available to all researchers and indigenous organizations through an inter-linked set of websites. The mission of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan is to archive and make available for analysis social science data sets. We will work with them to ensure that each participating country maintains full control of its data and at the same time contributes to the international data system.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
Implementing the overall goals of the SLiCA - RAAS will secure that data be managed in a way that information on the living conditions of the indigenous peoples of a large part of the Arctic will be accessible and work for both broad descriptive purposes and in depth analyses. Hence the SLiCA data set can too be seen as a base line study in relation to both quantitative and qualitative analyses within the social sciences.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Development of the concepts of Remote Access Analysis to apply to restricted micro data sets such as SLiCA is directly aimed at facilitating education and research within a number of academic disciplines related to living conditions research in the Arctic. Giving access to SLiCA´s data and documenting SLiCA´s research design will be of value for students, researchers, political and administrative authorities and indigenous communities in the Arctic.

Consistent with the IPY goal of fostering a major step forward in our understanding of the human dimensions of change in the Arctic, we propose to have the SLiCA Remote Access Analysis System in place for the 2008 International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, ICASS VI (endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 as an IPY activity), of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association, IASSA. We will provide a demonstration of the System and a training seminar in the use of the system at the conference.

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
SLiCA will apply for funding for the activities related to this proposal primarily from national funding agencies, e.g. National Science Foundation, NSF and Social Science and Humanities Research Council, SSHRS, as well as the Nordic Council of Ministers and international research councils/funding agencies.

3.11 Additional Comments
At the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Barrow, October 2000, SLiCA was accepted as a member of The Sustainable Development Working Group under the Arctic Council. At the Ministerial in Reykjavik, November 2004, this status was confirmed and SLiCA was included in the Sustainable Development Action Plan, 2004-2006.

In the summer of 2004 the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council proposed that SLiCA was backed up as an IPY initiative.

4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Mr Birger Poppel
Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland
Box 279 Nuuk
3900
Greenland

Tel:          +299 324522/157
Mobile:   +299 556266
Fax:         +299 324711
Email:       bipo@ilisimatusarfik.gl

Second Contact
Prof Jack Kruse
Institute of Social and Economic Research, Aniversity of Alaska Anchorage
117 N. Leverett Rd. Leverett
MA 01054
USA

Tel:          +(413) 367 2240
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         same number
Email:      afjak@uaa.alaska.edu

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation