The Institute for Social Research provides consultative and support services, many of which are offered without charge, to undergraduate students conducting research primarily in the social sciences, but also in the biological and physical sciences.

The Institute houses the largest university-based survey research organization in Canada and the staff of ISR’s Survey Research Centre carries out all phases of survey research, from questionnaire and sample design, through data collection, to the preparation of machine-readable data files, statistical analyses and report writing.

The Institute’s Statistical Consulting Service (SCS) provides assistance in research design, sampling, questionnaire design, statistical computing and statistical analysis. SCS also sponsors short courses on statistical analysis, research methodology and the use of statistical software (including SAS and SPSS). These courses are offered in the fall, winter and spring each year.

The Institute’s Spring Seminar Series on Social Research Methods presents short courses in questionnaire and sample design, how to use focus groups for social research, analyzing qualitative data, conducting Web-based surveys and survey data analysis.

ISR’s Data Archive provides access to results of studies conducted by the Institute and other major Canadian surveys.

The Institute manages the York University-Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (York RDC) which provides social science, health and policy researchers access to analyze Statistics Canada’s master data sets. In the RDC’s secure environment researchers can access surveys in full detail, without the removal of geographic and other information required to protect respondent confidentiality in the public use data files.

York students may contact the Institute to arrange for consultation in any of these areas or to enquire about upcoming courses.