The Data Access Center (DAC) based at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research provides researchers with remote access to confidential data files in a secure, controlled environment that protects the confidentiality of respondents. The confidential CHIS files maintained in the DAC contain detailed geographic identifiers, complete demographic information for survey respondents, and highly sensitive information (e.g., sexual behaviors, mental health treatment) that has been specifically excluded from the freely available Public Use Files.
Researchers can analyze data remotely, either by:
- Using programming services provided by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Statistical Unit.
- Writing their own programming code and submitting it to DAC staff (This option is facilitated by “dummy” data files that allow researchers to develop their own error-free code without the risk of inappropriate disclosure.)
Learn more about DAC Projects
DAC Project Application
If you are a researcher who would like to use confidential CHIS data, learn more about the application process.
DAC Project Depot
Browse through previously submitted DAC Projects and explore topics of interest, learn about already-conducted research and get ideas for where new research using CHIS data would be valuable. Must be logged in to view.
Other confidential data available from the DAC include:
Users can request CHIS data estimates from a variety of health topics. This service is available for nonprofit organizations, government agencies, the media, and other entities interested in specific health issues. The request must be estimate-driven and cannot be used for the purposes of research.
The the Data Access Center (DAC) provides Data Estimate Requests (DER) typically at no cost for approximate point estimates or simple health characteristics of a population. These services are limited to 1–2 tables of data estimates and are available for nonprofit organizations, government agencies, the media, and other entities interested in health issues.
DERs may not be used for the purpose of research, as a major descriptive analysis of a health care or health care access issue. DERs also cannot be used to test hypotheses or critically assess factors contributing to health status or behaviors. In addition, variables that qualify for a DER should not be readily available in AskCHIS or the Public Use Files.
Costs
Some DERs, such as small area estimations, will require a payment for time and efforts. In these cases, a cost estimate must be developed based on a submitted Scope of Work before work can begin on generating estimates. The DAC will coordinate the arrangement on a case-by-case basis.
Examples of DERs
Data estimates from CHIS may be used to contribute to any of the following for the purpose of improving health in California:
- Administrative, program, or policy planning
- Community-based reports that describe health characteristics of a specific population
- Support of applications for grants, fellowships, or similar, where by an individual or organization may not have funding at the moment to conduct his/her own research, but is using the estimate to seek funding
- Support of news or media stories on health-related topics
- To provide information to past, present, or potential CHIS funders and their constituents
- Other reasons that support and inform efforts to improve the health of Californians
Note: The Data Disclosure Advisory Committee (DDAC) and the Data Disclosure Review Committee (DDRC) do not need to be involved in DERs since these estimates do not fall within the definition of research; however, if one individual requires multiple data estimates, this may require submission of a DAC application, and therefore the work should be done and billed as a DAC project.
Please send your request and scope of work to the Data Access Center (DAC) at dacchpr@ucla.edu.
Overview
Administered to a subset of adult respondents (ages 18+) in CHIS 2007 and CHIS 2009, the Multicultural Discrimination Module (DM) contains questions about experiences of unfair treatment. Designed as a multidimensional instrument, the DM was field tested to assess its ability to provide valid and reliable measures of racial and ethnic discrimination in a diverse, multiethnic population. The DM captures several dimensions of discrimination including: (1) recent (past 12 months) everyday discrimination, (2) lifetime discrimination, (3) stress appraisal of discrimination experiences, and (4) usual responses to discrimination experiences. Learn more about the DM field test.
Instruments
Two versions of the DM instrument were developed to test two common approaches to asking questions about racial and ethnic discrimination. The CHIS 2007 DM instrument Versions A and B were fielded only in English. The CHIS 2009 DM instrument Versions A and B were fielded in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese and Korean.
- Version A: The 2-stage approach first asks about “unfair treatment” and then asks about the reason (attribution) for unfair treatment, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and other factors.
Read CHIS 2007 DM Version A
Read CHIS 2009 DM Version A
- Version B: The 1-stage approach asks directly about discrimination experiences due to race and/or ethnicity.
Read CHIS 2007 DM Version B
Read CHIS 2009 DM Version B
Datasets
The CHIS DM Field Test 2007 and 2009 datasets are not yet available. If you would like to be notified when they are available, please contact the Data Access Center and include “CHIS DM” in the subject line.
Cost
The purchasing cost for the DM dataset is $500. For more information about obtaining these data files, please contact the Data Access Center (DAC).
Please send your request to the Data Access Center (DAC) at dacchpr@ucla.edu.
Local health department (LHD) files provide data at the county level for California's public health departments interested in examining the health and wellbeing of its local population. LHD files provide information that can be used for benchmarking, targeted outreach, and service planning for vulnerable or at-risk local populations. LHD data files are customized to only include CHIS sample available within a specific county and can be requested by local health departments.
Availability and composition of the CHIS sample by year and county can be found on the Sample Design page.
LHD files may only be requested by county public health departments interested in local-level health estimates of its population. These data files are available free of charge.
If you are a county health department official, and are interested in receiving CHIS data for your county, please:
- Designate a CHIS data custodian at your local county health department
- Identify all data users in your local health department
- Complete the following CHIS Data Custodian Agreement and CHIS Data User Agreement forms and email them to the Data Access Center (DAC) at dacchpr@ucla.edu
- Complete the Electronic Data Transfer form and have it ready to send to DAC staff once LHD files are ready for delivery. This process of data delivery via the electronic secure file transfer process (sFTP) is secure and convenient.
Please send your request to the Data Access Center (DAC) at dacchpr@ucla.edu.