How to request non-public data
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study is committed to the privacy of its study participants and takes great care to maintain their confidentiality.
Most research questions can be addressed using publicly-available data. Access to these data requires registration on our web site before downloading.
Non-public or restricted variables can be identified in the WLS Portal under the “Access” field. The sensitive nature of these variables – which include geographic identifiers, dates other than year, and measures that group study participants into schools – increase the risk of re-identification of participants. For similar reasons, some variables in the public data are modified to limit potential re-identification.
Therefore, access to these special variables requires the following information be sent to wls@ssc.wisc.edu:
- a written proposal with your specific research aims and a justification why the publicly available data are not sufficient to answer your research question.
- if applicant is a student or postdoc include a letter of support from a faculty sponsor.
- a Curriculum Vitae (CV) for yourself and, if applicable, each researcher with whom you will work (including faculty sponsors).
- documentation of IRB approval.
WLS recognizes that genomic data hold great promise for exploring the multiple, complex factors that shape health and well-being across the life course. Therefore, we are happy to provide special access to these data.
Please send the following to wls@ssc.wisc.edu:
- a short proposal (5 pages maximum) describing the research question and study design. Researchers should make it clear whether they want to work with the first or second wave of genetic data. Those wishing to work with the second wave of data should specify whether they want imputed or non-imputed data. For more information see this.
- a Curriculum Vitae (CV) of every researcher who will work with the genetic data. NOTE: Students and Post-Docs are eligible to receive the data but only if they also submit the name and CV of a faculty sponsor.
- documentation of IRB approval
- To guard against overly reductive or deterministic use of the genomic data, applicants must include a brief statement acknowledging the potential pitfalls of genomics research and summarizing the applicant’s plan to avoid them in the course of the design, conduct, interpretation and reporting of their research.
Once these materials have been reviewed and approved by the WLS PI, a Data Use Agreement (DUA) needs to be completed between the researcher’s home institution and UW-Madison.
Approved researchers who are not at UW- Madison will receive instructions on how to download the genetic and phenotypic data files using Globus file transfer.