Preparing for Application Submission

Review criteria

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Review Committee will review your application using the following criteria:

1. A well-defined research question that addresses a publich health concern
2. A sufficient justification for access to restricted-use data to address your research question
3. The disclosure risk associated with:
   1. The requested restricted-use variables
   2. The requested mode of access
   3. Analytic plan (this includes statistical methods)
   4. The nature and composition of your planned output

Considerations

The RDC does not review the application for scientific merit.

Once the RDC receives your application, the RDC director will assign an RDC analyst to work with you. The RDC analyst is your primary contact for the duration of your project. At any time, if you have questions, please contact your RDC analyst.

Your RDC analyst:

• Facilitates review of your application.
• Creates your analytic data set.
• Accepts payment.
• Accepts your NCHS required confidentiality paperwork.
• Provides your dataset to the RDC location described in your application.
• Reviews your output for disclosure risk.
• Provides your approved output to you.

Application process

Step 1: Determine a need for restricted-use data.

Step 2: Determine a preferred location of access.

Step 3: Draft and submit your research application.

Step 4: Receive comments from the NCHS Review Committee and quickly revise and return your application.

Step 5: Update your application when there are changes.