About NDACAN

Products and Services

NDACAN is always looking for new ways to meet the needs of researchers in the field of child maltreatment. If there is an additional product or service you would like to see us offer, please contact us. Below are descriptions of NDACAN's current products and services.

Dissemination of Datasets

The primary activity of NDACAN is the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of high quality datasets relevant to the study of child abuse and neglect. Datasets include data files, complete documentation, and technical support from the NDACAN staff. NDACAN distributes data files in SPSS and SAS-compatible formats. Potential users are encouraged to review our datasets list to identify datasets of interest and then use our extensive on-line documentation to determine if these datasets will suit their needs. All users must submit a Terms of Use Agreement or license before they receive data -see a particular dataset's order page for specific instructions for receiving data.

NDACAN Publications

NDACAN distributes several free publications. Our e-newsletter, The NDACAN Updata e-newsletter, reports on NDACAN's activities, highlights new research conducted with our holdings, and announces the availability of new datasets. Our handbook entitled, A Contributor's Guide to Preparing and Archiving Quantitative Data, outlines data processing and documentation standards for investigators who deposit data at NDACAN. More NDACAN publications are listed on our NDACAN Publications page.

Summer Research Institute

Conducted annually since 1993, the Summer Research Institute is a secondary data analysis workshop that facilitates hands-on experience in using NDACAN datasets. Participants are selected on a competitive basis from a wide variety of disciplines including psychology, social work, and medicine. The primary goals of the Institute are to increase utilization of NDACAN holdings and to provide training in secondary analysis to child maltreatment researchers. The Institute also provides researchers an opportunity to network and collaborate with other scholars in the field. In addition to the Summer Research Institute, NDACAN makes presentations at national and international conferences.

E-mail List Serve for Child Maltreatment Researchers

In 1993, NDACAN established an Internet discussion group (also known as a list serve, list, or E-list) to facilitate information exchange and networking among researchers in the field of child abuse and neglect. The Child Maltreatment Research List (CMRL) discussion group is the foremost scholarly E-list in the child welfare field. The list is carefully moderated to ensure on-track discussions and a manageable volume of postings. The scope of the discussion group includes all areas of CAN research (e.g., epidemiology, etiology, prevention, consequences, intervention, and treatment) and the full range of research issues (e.g., measurement, instrumentation, statistical analysis, ethics). The list is not open to discussions of program or clinical issues except as they relate to evaluation research. There is no fee for joining or using the Child Maltreatment Research list, and NDACAN publishes all past postings in a searchable database. The CMRL description page contains instructions for joining or leaving the CMRL.

Support for Users and Contributors

NDACAN provides free user support to data users and data contributorss. NDACAN publishes general and data-specific help documents and also answers questions submitted to our support e-mail.