We are pleased to announce a workshop to be held January 6-8, 2016 to introduce the China Multigenerational Panel Datasets (CMGPD). These are major resources for the study of demography, stratification, and family. The workshop will feature the China Multigenerational Panel Dataset-Shuangcheng (CMGPD-SC), the release of which is nearing completion, as well as the previously released China Multigenerational Panel Dataset-Liaoning (CMGPD-LN). The workshop will be held at the California Center for Population Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The China Multi-Generational Panel Dataset – Shuangcheng (CMGPD-SC) provides longitudinal individual, household, and community information on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of a resettled population living in Shuangcheng, a county in present-day Heilongjiang Province of Northeastern China, for the period from 1866 to 1913. The dataset includes some 1.3 million annual observations of over 100,000 unique individuals descended from families who were relocated to Shuangcheng in the early 19th century. Distinguishing features of the CMGPD-SC include linked records of household landholding, registered ethnicity, and better registration of unmarried daughters than most microdata for pre-20th century Chinese populations.
The China Multigenerational Panel Dataset-Liaoning (CMGPD-LN), which will also be reviewed, provides 1.6 million triennial observations of approximately 250,000 individuals who lived in what is now Liaoning province between the middle of the 17th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The most distinctive feature of the CMGPD-LN is its time depth, with many families covered for as many as seven generations, and its geographic breadth, covering villages spread across an area the size of the Netherlands or New Jersey.
More information about the CMGPD datasets are available at their page at ICPSR. Details of the origin and basic characteristics of the CMGPD-LN are available in its User Guide. A User Guide is also available for the CMGPD-SC.
The workshop is intended to allow interested researchers to assess the suitability of the CMGPD for their research topics, and provide current users with additional insight into key features that may affect their use of the data or their interpretation of results. No prior quantitative training or knowledge of Chinese history is required. The workshop will not provide instruction in quantitative analysis or data management, and anyone seeking such training should go elsewhere.
At the workshop, sessions will introduce the background and context of the populations covered by the data, review the key features, outline its strengths and limitations, and assess its suitability for the study of a variety of topics in demography, sociology, and economics. Particular emphasis will be on the longitudinal and multi-generational features of the data. The workshop will provide examples of how the data may be manipulated to take advantage of longitudinal and kinship linkage to produce variables for specific research applications.
Schedule
The workshop will be in the California Center for Population Research Seminar Room, Public Policy 4202.
Overview of the CMGPD – Wednesday, January 6, 2015
- 9AM-9:30AM Welcome and participant self-introductions
- 9:30AM-10:30AM Unique features of the CMGPD, including comparisons to other datasets
- 10:30AM-10:45AM Break
- 10:45AM-11:30AM Comparison of the CMGPD-SC and CMGPD-LN
- 11:30AM-2PM Lunch (not provided)
- 2PM-3:30PM Format and basic structure of the CMGPD
- 3:30PM-3:45PM Break
- 3:45PM-5PM Limitations of the CMGPD to be aware of when considering use
Contents of the CMGPD – Thursday, January 7, 2015
- 9AM-10:30AM Demographic outcomes
- 10:30AM-10:45AM Break
- 10:45AM-12 Noon Household context variables
- 12 Noon-1:30PM Lunch (not provided)
- 1:30PM-3:15PM Social, economic and institutional status variables
- 3:15PM-3:30PM Break
- 3:30PM-4:30PM Constructed kinship variables
- 4:30PM-5PM Geographic context variables
Advanced operations with the CMGPD – Friday, January 8, 2015
- 9AM-10:30AM – Identifier variables for use in linkage
- 10:30AM-10:45AM – Break
- 10:45AM-12 Noon – Constructing life history, kinship, and community contextual variables
- 12 Noon-1:30PM Lunch (not provided)
- 1:30PM-3:15PM Examples of applications
- 3:15PM-3:30PM Break
- 3:30PM-5PM Participant presentations and general Q&A
Recommended reading/viewing
Please read or view as much as possible of the following in advance of the workshop, and come prepared with questions..
- CMGPD-LN User Guide
- CMGPD-SC User Guide (at ICPSR)
- Draft of updated CMGPD-SC User Guide that describes landholding variables
- CMGPD Training Guide – includes examples of STATA code for carrying out analysis and constructing new variables.
- A recent Demography article we published that compares the CMGPD to other historical East Asian datasets.
- Narrations of the Training Guide that I recorded, at Youtube
Applying
We will be being able to provide some support for travel expenses to registered participants. Applicants have an opportunity to indicate need for support at the application portal.
There is no fee for attendance, but prospective participants must complete a simple application and submit some basic documentation.
The application portal is now open. We are still considering applications. We will normally respond to completed applications within a day or two.
If you have questions, please email me at camcam@ust.hk.
Acknowledgements
The workshop is being organized by the Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) project at the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). DSDR is a project supported by the Population Dynamics Branch (PDB) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U24 HD048404). The UCLA California Center for Population Research (CCPR) is providing the venue as well as logistical support. CCPR receives population research infrastructure funding (R24HD041022) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Preparation of the CMGPD-SC and accompanying documentation for public release via ICPSR DSDR was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Grant no. R01 HD070985 “Multi-generational Demographic and Landholding Data: CMGPD-SC Public Release.”