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Three main sources of data can be distinguished: the academic
sector, the public sector and the private sector.
In the early sixties, when the first data archives started
operation, the academic sector was truly the primary source of
material for the archive. Since then a shift can be observed from
the academic sector and private sector to the public sector.
Scientific methods and techniques of empirical research are
at a high rate taken over by many public research departments. Big
cities now have their own statistical bureaus that conduct opinion
polls and other surveys on a routine basis.
National and international bodies have started big statistical
programs to monitor social phenomena.
Next to that,
numerous new commercial institutes have entered the research
market.
The public sector has become a potentially vital source of data
for the data archive. Statistical data produced by census bureaus
and similar institutes forms the basis of many policy decisions.
Any social
scientist dealing with society on a large scale needs access to
data on the same scale. It is the task of the data archive to
intermediate between public data producers and the scientific
users to get the appropriate data available.
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