An official website of the United States government
NCHS RDC
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) manages these RDC sites:
- Hyattsville, MD (DC-metropolitan area) at NCHS headquarters
- Atlanta, GA at CDC Corporate Square
- Rockville, MD at the Agency for Healthcare and Research & Quality
Statistical Software
The NCHS RDC computers are equipped with:
- Microsoft Office products
- SAS
- Stata
- SAS-callable SUDAAN
- R
- Python
- SPSS*
*The NCHS RDC only has SPSS version 19; the NCHS RDC has no current plans to upgrade SPSS to a new version*
If you would like to use a different software or software modules, there may be a delay in approval and/or access. Due to disclosure concerns not all software and modules are allowed.
Before Your Visit
- Schedule your appointment: The RDC is open to researchers by appointment during business hours. Researchers must be monitored by RDC staff when working in the RDC. Please schedule your appointment at least one week in advance to ensure we are able to accommodate your request.
- Only one researcher is assigned to a computer at a time. Visits exceeding 5 days in a 90-day period may require a background check. Please let your RDC Analyst know if this is a possibility.
- Email your statistical programming code and reference documentation (e.g., codebooks or statistical software reference materials) to your RDC Analyst seven (7) business days in advance of your scheduled visit. Your RDC Analyst will review these documents before putting them into your account. RDC computers do not have access to the Internet and the RDC does not allow the researcher to load files into the RDC computers.
Rules
- Your RDC analyst will schedule and supervise all visits. However, when necessary, your RDC analyst may plan for another RDC analyst to supervise your visit.
- If you have multiple research projects, you are only allowed to work on one at a time. Do not attempt to access multiple projects or data from multiple projects at the same time.
- All codes, output, and notes must undergo disclosure review by RDC Analyst before removal from the RDC. Absolutely no individual level data will leave the RDC facilities. See Output Policies and Procedures.
- The RDC reserves the right to search all materials brought into or leaving the RDC facility. Cell phones, pagers, laptops, cameras or other electronic devices are not permitted in the RDC.
- Do not bring items (e.g., a national hospital directory or information from voter registration) into the RDC that may enable you to identify a study participant. Do not attempt to put any information or output into your code that would facilitate re-identification of a study participant.
- Any attempt to obtain or retain prohibited information (e.g., output or data that would not pass disclosure review) will result in an immediate suspension of your account and could result in possible legal actions.