Announcement of needs

The Research Data Centers of the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Federal States are the leading supplier of high-quality official micro data in Germany. To make this remain, we constantly work on the further development our data and service supply and adjust it to the needs of the empirical sciences. You can support us in this task by announcing your needs if you require an official statistic that has not already been added to our wide-ranging data supply. Based on these announcements, we periodically evaluate if there is a substantial demand for a specific statistic and if the incorporation into our product portfolio is appropriate. Please use the form at the bottom of the page for your announcement of needs and e-mail the completed form to Neuaufnahme@it.nrw.de. All announcements of needs will be examined in detail.

Please be aware of the following FAQ when reporting your research needs:

Does an announcement of needs automatically lead to the inclusion of the statistic into the RDC supply?

An announcement of needs does not guarantee the inclusion into the RDC data supply. Instead, the announcements of needs are periodically checked and it will be evaluated if the demand of the desired statistic is high enough to justify the effort caused by the creation and preparation of data and metadata.

Which aspects are checked regarding the incoming announcements of needs?

We want to offer you a professional portfolio of data and services that are based on the requirements of empirical sciences. This does not only include the provision of microdata but numerous further services like securement of specialist expertise, processing of data according to the specific requirements of science and for several ways of data access, creation of accompanying documentations and metadata, consultation and support of scientists and assurance of statistical confidentiality. We gladly provide these services for you. We ask you to understand that the effort for the provision of data can only be made if there is a substantial need for this data and our high quality criteria can be ensured.

I need a statistic at short notice that is currently not part of the RDC data supply. What can I do?

For the provision of statistics that are currently not part of the RDC data supply there is the general possibility of special data preparations. However, there is no granted right for special preparations. Please contact the RDC to determine the possibilities of data provision and the resulting costs.

What is the point of the announcement of needs if it does not lead to a short-term provision of data?

Using the announcement of needs, you can continuously inform the RDC about existing and current research needs. Consequently, you ensure that the RDC know about real research interests of empirically working scientists when developing their product portfolio. As a result, they are able to orientate their product portfolio towards these insights. It also allows the early anticipation of current topics of social and political relevance.

What happens to my announcement of needs when it is sent to the RDC?

You receive an automated confirmation to inform you that we have received your announcement of needs. We ask for your understanding that we cannot provide you with a personalized message. You can inform yourself about the inclusion of new statistics to the RDC data supply by checking our newsletter or our homepage.