Scientific Research Center

Scientific Research Center

Within the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) policy to promote the use of statistical data in the field of scientific research, in addition to enabling researchers to access diverse data to serve various scientific purposes, a center for utilizing raw data was established at PCBS headquarters according to criteria protecting the confidentiality of data and the privacy of individuals in accordance with the article (17), paragraph (1) of the General Statistics Law No. (4) for 2000, which stipulates that "All individual information and data submitted to PCBS for statistical purposes shall be considered confidential and shall not be accessed by any individual or public or private body or used for purposes other than statistical tables".

Beneficiaries:

Many institutions and bodies are expected to benefit from the availability of such data, where the data shall help them in setting policies and making evidence-based decisions, such as:

  •  Various Research Centers/Researchers.

  •  Universities, institutes, and postgraduates.

  •  Private sector establishments

  •  Public sector establishments

  •  International establishments 

Datasets

PCBS owns an enormous amount of data, in various statistical fields, obtained through surveys, censuses and administrative records, that were previously implemented and are being carried out by PCBS. The most important of these datasets are divided by topic:

Censuses: such as the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2007.

Geographic: such as household energy, economic environment, olive pressers, housing conditions, industrial environment, household environment, healthcare centers environment... etc.

Economic: such as industry, internal trade, construction contractors, transport and storage, formal and informal sector, financial and insurance services… etc.

Population and social: such as children, labour force, poverty, work conditions, culture, health, household expenditure and consumption, crime and victim, computer, internet and mobile phone, household survey of Jerusalem governorate… etc.

Data User Rights:

PCBS shall secure a suitable place for the data user to use such data through a particular computer with high quality and security specifications, in addition to documenting data and used coding lists, through the official work hours (08:30 – 14:30), along with providing the necessary technical support services. 

Data Users Obligations

Data should only be used for statistical purposes, while adhering to data confidentiality and security rules stipulated in the General Statistics Law and not attempting to disclose any individual information, in addition to respecting and abiding by the regulations and bylaws of PCBS, as well as indicating the source of data when publishing any material derived from the datasets.

Procedures to use the Scientific Research Center

  •  Filling out a form, at the Dissemination and Documentation Department – Public Services Division, along with stating the data to be used and the study that would be carried out based on such data.

  •  The Scientific Committee shall consider the application within two weeks.

  •  In case the application is approved, the applicant shall be informed to sign the agreement and notified of the work mechanism and procedures.