The Transparency Project - Frequently Asked Questions

The Transparency Project

Division on Addiction, The Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School

How can I download a dataset?

You can download a dataset by clicking the download button located beneath each dataset description. The download button will direct you to a page that allows you access to text, SPSS, and SAS files, as well as dataset codebooks. People who are interested in downloading a dataset should register with the Transparency Project. The registration is quick and easy.

Are the datasets limited to gambling?

No. The data repository is only restricted to data related to addictive behavior.

What software do I need to use the data?

You need access to a statistics software package that will open text, SPSS, or SAS files.

How can I contribute a dataset?

You can apply to upload a dataset by accessing the Contribute a Dataset page of this website. That page provides the requirements for contributing data to the Transparency Project (e.g. protecting the private health information of the project's participants by complying with IRB and HIPAA regulations).

Where can I learn more about de-identifying data?

The United States Department of Health and Human Resources has information on Health Information and Privacy, including the The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy Rule. Their website is a great place to start: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html

In response to HIPAA's privacy rule, local Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) generally require the following protected health information to be excluded from datasets in order for them to be considered de-identified:

Name
Address street location
Address town/city
State/Province
Address zip code
Telephone number
Email address
Fax number
Elements of date (except year) related to person, e.g., date of birth, admission or discharge dates, date of death
Social security number
Account numbers
Medical record numbers
Health plan beneficiary numbers
Certificate/license numbers
Vehicle identification numbers and serial numbers including license plates
Medical device identifiers
Link to identifier (code)
Web URLs
Internet protocol (IP) address
Biometric identifiers (finger and voice prints)
Any unique identifying number, characteristic, or code
Full face photographic images

I have a question about a variable, whom can I email?

The Transparency Project is not designed to provide help to researchers regarding the individual datasets or their analyses. The Transparency Project is a database repository for open access to addiction-related databases. You can send questions related to access and contributions to info@thetransparencyproject.org.

Can I get updates from the Transparency Project?

Yes! You can subscribe to the Transparency Project mailing list. People who join the mailing list will receive notification from the Transparency Project about updates and new datasets. The Transparency Project will not sell or distribute the mailing list.

Do the "Actual Internet Sports Gambling Activity from February 2005 through September 2005" datasets include information about betting with "promotional" money?

Our analytic dataset, "Actual Internet Sports Gambling Activity from February 2005 through September 2005" aggregated the daily betting activity only for the days after the first day a participant deposited money into his/her player account. The daily records of activity before the day of first deposit are in the raw dataset "UserDailyAggregation". In sum, this dataset does not include any information about promotional money from bwin (e.g., received promotional money or not, amount of promotional money received, etc).

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