Posted October 4, 2024 by Ashley Washburn
Several popular tools for managing research data, analytics and surveys are now widely available to the Nebraska research community through an agreement between the Office of Research and Innovation and University of Nebraska Information Technology Services.
SAS, Qualtrics and REDCap are available to authorized University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty, staff and students at no additional cost, alleviating the burden of subscription costs for individual researchers and teams. Instructions to access these resources are available below.
SAS
SAS is an analytic software used for data management, advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence and predictive analytics. Used by the U.S. Census Bureau, SAS is capable of working with extremely large data sets. Both point-and-click and syntax interfaces are available.
To access:
1) On an ITS-managed device, go to the Windows Software Center app on Microsoft/Linex devices.
2) Click on the icon labeled UNL SAS.
SAS does not run natively on Mac devices; however, many features are still available. Follow these instructions for Mac devices.
Qualtrics
Qualtrics is an advanced tool for building and distributing surveys, collecting responses and analyzing data. The software has many user-friendly features, including a point-and-click interface, optimization for mobile devices, libraries containing tutorials and commonly asked questions, security features, extensive customization and more. Researchers can download data in a variety of formats to fit their needs.
To access:
- Go to https://unlcorexmuw.qualtrics.com.
- Choose to sign in using “My Organization’s Single Sign-on (SSO).” An account will be created after you accept the user agreement.
REDCap
The Research Electronic Data Capture system, known as REDCap, is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. In addition to common survey capabilities, REDCap also has functions for offline data collection, the ability to assign data to different conditions, longitudinal data collection, and for teams, the ability to control access by roles. Users may download data into a variety of formats.
To access:
- Go to https://redcap.unl.edu/.
- Choose UNL as your home organization.
- Sign on with your University of Nebraska single sign-on (SSO).
In addition to these tools, R&I and ITS are working to open access to ResearchMatch, a volunteer registry funded by the National Institutes of Health. The registry will be available to investigators on clinical research studies that have received Institutional Review Board approval, including clinical trials, biomedical research and social-behavioral and psychology research. More details on eligibility and recruitment are forthcoming.
For more information about information technology resources for researchers, contact Alian Kasabian, director, Methodology and Evaluation Research Core and research and data security liaison.
