What are the differences between PUF, Campus File, SUF and the data in secure room?
A scientific use file (SUF) includes sensitive information. However, data are de facto anonymized. Most data sets are available as SUF and are the standard product for scientific research. They can be used in the research institution of the respective researchers.
In some cases, an additional version of the data set with additional information (geo-coordinates instead of 1km², information on sparsely populated grid cells) are available, too. These data can only be used the data secure room. The data secure room is a special room with high security standards. We always recommend working with the scientific use file first and apply for the additional version afterwards through personal contact (fdz@rwi-essen.de).
For the RWI-GEO-RED data, also two campus files (CF) are available. These data contain less information than the full scientific use file. Further, they already contain some data preparation and cleaning to make the data use easier for students. They can be used for teaching, B.Sc. and M.Sc. thesis. For research projects and doctoral theses, we recommend the SUF.
A so-called public use file (PUF) includes the lowest level of sensitive information and is Available on email request to everyone. This is true for the price indices (RWI-GEO-REDX)