Building Survey Data Infrastructure on Aging: The Legacy of NIA

Abstract

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has contributed to the remarkable growth in the field of gerontology. One of the many ways the NIA has contributed is through the creation and support of an extensive body of relevant data resources. This paper focuses primarily on NIA’s support for the creation and use of these data sources in research, including mention of related documentation, archiving, harmonization, and dissemination/data access activities. Through all of these efforts, NIA-supported data have been used by researchers and policy analysts across a wide range of scholarly disciplines, producing a large body of research that provides a scientific foundation for policy and practice.