Abstract
The Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) was developed as a strategy aimed at standardizing the dissemination of micro-level historical demographic data. The structure provides a common and clear data strategy which facilitates studies that consider several databases, and the development and exchange of software. Based on my own experiences from working with the IDS, in this article I provide reflections on the use of IDS to create datasets for analysis and to conduct comparative demographic research.
Highlights
The Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) was developed by George Alter, Myron Gutmann and Kees Mandemakers as a strategy aimed at standardizing the dissemination of micro-level historical demographic data (Alter & Mandemakers, 2014; Alter, Mandemakers, & Gutmann, 2009)
The IDS was developed with the aim of providing a standardized structure to facilitate the dissemination of micro-level historical demographic data
My own experience with the use of the IDS has shown that, the initial investments needed to transfer the data into IDS and to learn how to use the structure are not negligible, there are very large returns to these investments
Summary
The Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) was developed by George Alter, Myron Gutmann and Kees Mandemakers as a strategy aimed at standardizing the dissemination of micro-level historical demographic data (Alter & Mandemakers, 2014; Alter, Mandemakers, & Gutmann, 2009). The structure provides a common and clear data strategy which facilitates conducting comparative studies using multiple databases and the development and exchange of software for analysis, increasing the transparency, replicability and generalizability of research and breaking down the barriers of entry into the field of historical demography. In the current work I provide reflections on the use of IDS to create data sets for analysis and to conduct comparative demographic research. These reflections are based on my own experiences of working with the IDS of the Scanian Economic Demographic Database and from the development of an international comparative project that used IDS databases from five different historical European populations
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