Metadata for official microdata (MISSY)

Authors: Jeanette Bohr; Florian Thirolf

As part of its service infrastructure, the German Microdata Lab (GML) provides structured metadata on selected research data from official statistics via the database-driven online system MISSY (Microdata Information System). MISSY is tailored to the needs of empirical researchers working with official microdata and aims to facilitate the use of the data by providing user-friendly and quickly accessible data documentation. The metadata schema is based on the expertise of the GML in the field of official microdata and on the recommendations of the international documentation standard of the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI).

MISSY was developed and extended in several project phases funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). The first version of the microdata information system focused on the metadata for the scientific use files of the German microcensus. As part of the Data without Boundaries (DwB) project - an EU project to improve access to official microdata within the EU - a comparable documentation of microdata from European statistics was developed in a second version. The two systems developed were then integrated into a common system with a standardised technical infrastructure. Since then, all structured metadata services provided by the GML for official microdata are available online in one system.

The technical development of the system, which handles both the internal processing of metadata and the presentation of content via the web portal, focuses on technical solutions that enable standardised, efficient and, as far as possible, automated processing and are continuously optimised. The result is metadata that is standardised and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable).

Bohr, Jeanette; Thirolf, Florian (2024): Standardizing metadata: a MISSY use case (Poster). Conference on Smart Metadata for Official Statistics (COSMOS), 2024 edition, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Paris, 2024-04-11. http://cosmos-conference.org/2024/posters/p1_COSMOS_Poster%20A1_MISSY_final.pdf.

Bohr, Jeanette; Balz, Anne; Thirolf, Florian; Zloch, Matthäus (2018): Microdata Information System MISSY: Benefits for Research with Official Microdata, DDI-Based Implementation, and Evaluation with Regard to FAIR Criteria. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-58260-7

Bohr, Jeanette; Zloch, Matthäus (2016): Documenting Microdata from Official Statistics – Benefits of a DDI-Based Backend Infrastructure. EDDI16 – 8th Annual European DDI User Conference, Köln, 07.12.2016. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Documenting-Microdata-from-Official-Statistics-%E2%80%93-of-Bohr-Zloch/2847b350a9ce03063e59ae24a9031a5415698524?utm_source=direct_link

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Bohr, Jeanette (2015): Metadata for European integrated official microdata: MISSY. 2nd European Data Access Forum, Luxembourg, 24.03.2015.

Bosch, Thomas; Zapilko, Benjamin (2014): Let’s Disco - Publish your DDI Metadata as Linked Data. EDDI14: 6th Annual European DDI User Conference, 01.12.2014, London. https://de.slideshare.net/slideshow/201412-lets-disco-2-eddi-2014/42294730

Bohr, Jeanette; Thirolf, Florian; Wolf, Christof (2014): Metadata for Eurostat Microdata. Eurostat Workshop on Microdata Access, Luxembourg.

Bohr, Jeanette; Mack, Alexander; Thirolf, Florian; Bosch, Thomas (2013): The next generation of the microdata information system MISSY. An integrated solution for the documentation of European microdata. European DDI User Conference (EDDI) 2013, 03.12.2013, Paris. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Next-Generation-of-the-Microdata-Information-An-Bohr-Mack/b967610ed6f171609c1d0bc9a667932dbccc3cb6?utm_source=direct_link

Bohr, Jeanette (2013): Information System MISSY – Metadata for the scientific community. New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics (NTTS), 5.-7.3.2013, Brussels. Session 4C – Improving researchers' access to Official microdata.

Bosch, Thomas; Bohr, Jeanette; Zloch, Matthäus (2013): The New Microdata Information System (MISSY): integration of DDI-based data models, an open-source software architecture, and Independent persistence service implementations. 5th European DDI User Conference (EDDI 2013), 03.12.2013 - 04.12.2013, Paris. http://de.slideshare.net/boschthomas/the-new-microdata-information-system-missy-integration-of-ddibased-data-models-an-opensource-software-architecture-and-independent-persistence-service-implementations

Bosch, Thomas; Zloch, Matthäus; Wegener, Dennis (2013): A Business Perspective on Use-Case-Driven Challenges for Software Architectures to Document Study and Variable Information. 39th International Association for Social Science Information Services & Technology (IASSIST 2013), 28.05.2013 - 31.05.2013; Cologne. http://de.slideshare.net/boschthomas/201305-iassist-2013

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Zloch, Matthäus; Bosch, Thomas; Wegener, Dennis (2013): Towards a DDI Backend Architecture - Sharing DDI-Related Software Modules, 4th European DDI User Conference (EDDI 2012), 03.12.2012 - 04.12.2012; Bergen. http://de.slideshare.net/boschthomas/201212-eddi-2012-poster-demo

Bosch, Thomas; Zloch, Matthäus (2012): Create Your Own Information Systems on the Basis of DDI-Lifecycle. Create Your Own Information Systems on the Basis of DDI-Lifecycle, 4th European DDI User Conference (EDDI 2012), 03.12.2012, Bergen. http://de.slideshare.net/boschthomas/201212-eddi-2012-workshop

Wegener, Dennis; Zloch, Matthäus; Bosch, Thomas (2012): DDI & Model-View-Controller: An Architectural Perspective. DDI Lifecycle: Moving Forward, 21.10.2012 - 26.10.2012, Wadern. http://de.slideshare.net/boschthomas/201210-ddi-lifecycle-moving-forward-3-15235926

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Bohr, Jeanette; Hopt, Oliver; Lengerer, Andrea; Schroedter, Julia; Wira-Alam, Andias (2010): Mikrodaten-Informationssystem MISSY: Metadaten zu den Mikrozensus Scientific Use Files (Abschlussbericht MISSY II). GESIS-Technical Report 2010/07. Mannheim: GESIS. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/20717

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Wira-Alam, Andias; Hopt, Oliver (2010): Implementing DDI 3.0: The German Microcensus Case Study. IASSIST Quarterly 2009 (33): 16-22. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325979704_Implementing_DDI_3_The_German_Microcensus_Case_Study

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Bohr, Jeanette; Janßen, Andrea; Lengerer, Andrea; Lüttinger, Paul; Schroedter, Julia H.; Wolf, Christof (2007): Verbesserung des Zugangs der Wissenschaft zu Mikrodaten. Pilotprojekt zum Aufbau eines Servicezentrums für Mikrodaten der GESIS bei ZUMA. ZUMA-Methodenbericht 2007/05. Mannheim: ZUMA. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-251033

Bohr, Jeanette (2007): Abschlussbericht MISSY Nutzerstudie. ZUMA-Methodenbericht 2007/01. Mannheim: ZUMA. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-251074

Bohr, Jeanette; Janßen, Andrea; Wackerow, Joachim (2006): Problems of Comparability in the German Microcensus over Time and the New DDI Version 3.0. IASSIST Quarterly 2006 (30): 13-19. https://iassistquarterly.com/index.php/iassist/article/view/605

Janßen, Andrea; Bohr, Jeanette (2006): Microdata Information System – MISSY. IASSIST Quarterly 2006 (30): 5-11. https://iassistquarterly.com/public/pdfs/iqvol302bohr.pdf