1  Why users should read the guidelines?

In practice, to ensure data protection, the deanonymization potential of result files must be checked after evaluations using controlled remote execution before their release. Since this work ties up a lot of resources due to the large number of users and the volume of results generated, the processes must be standardized. This is the only way that the FDZ can process all requests quickly and still have sufficient free capacity for updating and further developing the data products. To do so, the FDZ relies on the support of the users.

What can you contribute to a smooth and fast process?

• Read the following documents before you start with the analyses in the FDZ infrastructure:
  • the ‘Manuals for Remote Data Access and On-Site Use at the FDZ of the BA at the IAB’ (from here on: ‘manuals’)
  • the ‘Guidelines for the Design of Evaluation Programmes and Analysis Results’ (from here on: ‘guidelines’)
  • the ‘Stata Templates of the FDZ’ (from here on: ‘FDZ templates’)
• Design your programme files according to these documents.
• Check the runnability of your programmes using test data or subsamples.
• Check the runnability of the programmes and the data protection compliance of your results before submitting the results to the FDZ for review and approval. This means that the analysis results should normally be designed in such a way that subsequent manual deletions by the FDZ team are no longer required.
• Reduce the results that need to be subjected to a data protection review to the absolute minimum. Only ask for results that are intended to be published or presented to be checked. Results of preliminary analyses, quality checks during data preparation, etc. should not be submitted to the FDZ for review and approval.
• If the programme stops running, first try to find and correct the cause of the error yourself. First, check that your syntax is correct and that the technical specifications for the FDZ infrastructure (e.g. the use of “globals” and path specifications) have been implemented correctly. Second, consult the FAQ list for JoSuA. Only if all measures do not lead to success, contact the FDZ.

The FDZ supports you with templates, which allow an easy start for the implementation of the syntax design as well as the output of data protection compliant results. A detailed description of the FDZ templates can be found in the zip archive of the templates. In addition, you will find references to corresponding programming examples in the templates in the following sections.

This data protection manual serves to explain and deepen the requirements for syntax creation and the output of data protection-compliant analysis results, which are illustrated by examples in the FDZ templates. Here you will learn how the analysis process ideally runs in the IT infrastructure of the FDZ while complying with the requirements. In addition, results classified as critical from a data protection perspective are explained, and strategies for avoiding such results are outlined.

What are the advantages of complying with the guidelines?

• You receive your results faster.
• Your results contain few or no deletions and additional blocking to prevent re-calculation of deleted values.
• Your results are based on sufficiently high numbers of observations and therefore have a higher significance.
• By following the guidelines, your programmes meet the requirements of “good scientific practice” and are thus easily reproducible. Moreover, your results can be reproduced at any time.
• By efficiently reviewing the results, the FDZ can devote more resources to other tasks, such as updating existing and developing new data products or improving the quality of services.

Important

If you have any questions, please contact the Research Data Centre (iab.fdz@iab.de). Please always include your FDZ project number (fdzXXXX) and, if applicable, the job ID from JoSuA.