Social science data - prepared for subsequent use, equipped with comprehensible documentation and easy to find using keywords. Not only for researchers and teachers, but also for students and the interested public - the AUSSDA Dataverse offers all this as a central hub for data seekers from various social science disciplines.

The newly designed user guide on our website explains in detail how to log in to the Dataverse and access our data treasures. In addition to the texts, there are now also short videos that illustrate how to log in and search for data in the Dataverse. We also explain the difference between datasets that are open access (i.e. available to everyone) and those that are linked to a scientific purpose and therefore have a scientific use licence.

Once you have decided which data you would like to work with, you can download it - together with documentation material, such as questionnaires for survey data, code books and more detailed information on the selected data set. A helpful video is also available for this purpose.

‘With the user guide, we want to support our users in navigating the AUSSDA Dataverse,’ explains Veronika Heider, Data Curator at AUSSDA. ‘Both new users who are creating an account for the first time and experienced data users can familiarise themselves with the search functionality, file names and data citation. This is a great addition to Dataverse's own technical user guide. ‘

It is essential for AUSSDA to ensure that access to the data we host is as easy and comprehensible as possible. We hope to provide our users with a useful tool through the new user guide and look forward to receiving feedback.