19th International CODATA Conference
Category: Interoperability
The
SEDO project: an Internet Navigator for publishing socio-economic data
Thomas TAMISIER (tamisier@crpgl.lu), Fernand
FELTZ, Stéphane RIEGEL
Cellule de
Recherche, d'Etude et de
Développement en Informatique,
Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
The use of the Net for querying socio-economic databases has lately drawn the
attention of both experts and the public at large, with a number of online services
provided by statistical organizations of various countries, such as those in
Europe that belong to the CESSDA. In
Considering universal portability and flexibility to adapt to different databases
as guidelines, the service offers customized presentations of statistics with
guaranteed accuracy. Moreover, neither the use of specialized statistical tools
nor expertise in the domain are required. Different
levels of expertise are implemented: the general public is provided with fast
indicators whereas advanced users query the database for their needs and apply
statistical primitives to the results.
Summarized results are displayed with a minimum number of clicks through charts
introducing the main themes or by browsing directly through tables of results.
Complete databases are searched by 3 methods: a hierarchical approach implemented
upon a self-documented thesaurus, a search engine with Boolean operators, and
direct access by variable identification. The service contains a protected area
for experts, with user identification. In this area, baskets of variables can
be stored to query the tables and perform statistical analysis. Results can
be downloaded, and a special memory keeps tracks on the server of the operations
performed and the preferences of the user so that he can retrieve his customized
configuration from any place on the Web.
Compared to other data navigators, Sedo gives the
user full latitude to perform its own calculations. It merges the storage of
all data into SQL tables and uses the SAS statistical system to analyze them.
SQL tables are required to migrate the core of the
system onto any kind of server, and to control the accessibility to the database,
in order to ensure the secure handling of the confidential information. Due
to the huge amount of information resulting from the combination of the variables,
statistical weaves, individuals and family of the survey panels, a special design
of SQL tables has been used to reduce the column numbers.