Greeting

The Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo is composed of researchers from the four social science disciplines of law, political science, economics, and sociology, making it a unique institution nationwide. The three main pillars of the Instituteʼs activities are (1) promoting joint research (including Institute-wide joint research projects), (2) conducting surveys (such as social surveys and community-based surveys), and (3) enhancing research infrastructure (including the SSJ Data Archive and the Institute of Social Science Library). The SSJ Data Archive (SSJDA) and other social surveys used to be carried out mainly by the Information Center for Social Science Research on Japan which was established in 1996. Building on its fine record, the Information Center was reorganized and renamed the Center for Social Research and Data Archives (CSRDA) in 2009.

The CSRDA comprises the following four groups: the Research Infrastructure Group, the Social Survey Research Group, the Quantitative Social Research Group, and the International Survey Research Group. The Research Infrastructure Group works with a variety of research agencies to gather the vast amount of primary data used in the SSJDA, manages the SSJDA, and makes it available for use by universities, research institutions, and researchers throughout Japan and worldwide. The Social Survey Research Group conducts the Japanese Life Course Panel Surveys (JLPS). This Group also conducted the Japanese General Social Surveys (JGSS) in cooperation with the Osaka University of Commerce from academic year 1998 to 2012. The Quantitative Social Research Group aims to promote cooperative research and train young researchers by holding secondary analysis research workshops and quantitative analysis seminars. The International Survey Research Group establishes and maintains relationships with data archives throughout the world and works to bring the SSJDA in line with international standards.

Through these activities, the CSRDA aims to take a leading role in the development of empirical social science research in Japan and the building of a network of social surveys and data archives. We would like to take this opportunity to ask all those involved in this field for their cooperation.

Director, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo
Director, Center for Social Research and Data Archives, Institute of Social Science
Yuji Genda