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George Alter
altergc@umich.edu

(734) 615-8400

Website
Applications:
Social Science
Methodologies:
Databases and Data management, Security and Privacy, Statistics
Relevant Projects:

bioCADDIE (NIH BD2K)

Building Community Engagement in Data Citation and Open Access to Data (Sloan Foundation)

Metadata for Long-standing Large-Scale Social Science Surveys (NSF)

Longitudinal Analysis of Historical Demographic Data (NICHD)

Securely Computing with Sensitive Data (Laura and John Arnold Foundation)

Continuous Capture of Metadata for Statistical Data (NSF)


Connections:

Research Data Alliance (Interest Group co-chair)

Social Science History Association (former president)

International Association for Social Science Information and Technology

Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences

European Historical Population Samples Network

George Alter

Research Professor

Institute for Social Research
Population Studies Center

Research Professor Emeritus of Population Studies Center, Research Professor Emeritus of Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research and Professor Emeritus of History, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Alter’s research integrates theory and methods from demography, economics, and family history with historical sources to understand demographic behaviors in the past.  From 2007 to 2016 Alter was Director of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, the world’s largest archive of social science data.  He has been active in international efforts to promote research transparency, data sharing, and secure access to confidential research data.  He is currently engaged in projects to automate the capture of metadata from statistical analysis software and to compare fertility transitions in contemporary and historical populations.