Social science research in Canada and government information policy: The statistics Canada example |
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| Institution: | 1. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, USA 21205;2. University of Montana Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities, 52 Corbin Hall, Missoula, MT, USA 59812;3. University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, S421 Sinclair School of Nursing, Columbia, MO, USA 65211;4. University of Virginia School of Nursing, Post Office Box 800782, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA 22908;1. Neuropsychology and Neurorehabilitation Service, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland;2. Urology Service, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland;1. Centre d''Applications et de Recherches en Télédétection, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada;2. Centre d''Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, Canada;3. Landscape Science & Technology, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada;4. Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;5. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada;6. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Cryospheric Laboratory, Code 615, Greenbelt, MD, USA |
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| Abstract: | This research on government information policy's effects on use and users of government information considered social scientists' use of information from Canada's central statistical agency, Statistics Canada. Using a triangulated methodology, the investigation focused on Canadian mid-1980s federal cost-recovery and restraint initiatives which applied to government information. The case study revealed Statistics Canada's response to the initiatives. Bibliometric research objectively documented policy effects on use of statistics sources, examining Canadian social science journal articles in five disciplines. Textual examination revealed use of Canadian and foreign governmental and nongovernmental statistics sources over the years surrounding policy implementation. An author survey supplemented bibliometric findings. Higher prices and increased electronic data dissemination by Statistics Canada were confirmed, however bibliometric analysis indicated no significant change over time in use of statistics sources. Survey respondents expressed unhappiness with the price increases, but did not change sources used. Many (in 1995) still used paper products rather than electronic ones, a finding which provides baseline data but which does not reflect the more recent explosion in Internet use. |
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