Patricia Oslund

The often repeated phrase “turning data into information” provides a good description of many of my responsibilities at IPSR. I support IPSR research projects by cleaning, recoding, organizing, and conducting preliminary investigations of data from a variety of sources.  I prepare datasets for econometric analysis. Often the data sets that I use come from administrative sources and hence were not designed for research purposes. Sometimes understanding how the data for a project were constructed is a research project in itself!

In addition to data preparation, I also design and conduct economic impact studies—studies that project the effects of new investment, government policy changes, and other events on state and local economies. IPSR has licensed the IMPLAN economic impact model, which we use as a tool to assist with these studies.