The Gateway to Global Aging Data Enclave is a secure remote-access computing desktop hosted on the National Institute on Aging's LINKAGE platform. Through the Enclave, users are provided access to the Gateway's Harmonized data products and original survey data. The Enclave also provides users with analytic packages like R, SAS, and Stata and productivity software like Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Notepad++.

Enclave Access

To apply for Enclave access, researchers must first create a Gateway user account and then fill out an Application for a Gateway Enclave Workspace.

Data may not be exported from the Enclave. Users may only export statistical summaries (i.e. frequency tabulations, means, variances, regression coefficients, etc.) and analysis programs. All output will be monitored and approved by a Gateway compliance officer prior to download.

Data Available in the Enclave

The following data files are currently available in the Gateway Enclave. Updated and new files will be added over time. Researchers may upload external data to their Enclave workspace.

Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

• Harmonized HRS
• Harmonized HRS End of Life
• Harmonized HRS-HCAP
• Harmonized HRS COVID
• 2002-20 Core HRS Interview

English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)

• Harmonized ELSA
• Harmonized ELSA End of Life
• Harmonized ELSA Life History
• Harmonized ELSA-HCAP
• Harmonized ELSA COVID
• 2002-19 Core ELSA Interview

Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI)

• Harmonized LASI
• Harmonized LASI-DAD
• 2017-19 Core LASI Interview
• 2020-22 LASI-DAD Interview

Chilean Social Protection Survey (SPS)

• 2017-18 Core SPS Interview
• 2019 Chile-Cog Interview

Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA)

• 2013-19 Core NICOLA Interview

Enclave Sensitive-Use Data Access

The Enclave hosts a number of sensitive-use data files that provide additional information beyond the public-use data. These data do not include any personally identifiable information but have been deemed sensitive by an HRS-INS study. They include contextual information that has been linked to survey respondents, such as environmental exposures and historical policies.

To apply for sensitive-data use access, researchers must first create a Gateway Enclave workspace and then fill out an Application for Gateway Enclave Sensitive-Use Data.

Currently, the Enclave includes sensitive data files for the following studies:

• LASI-DAD

In the future, we will be adding sensitive data for additional studies.

Applying for Shared Workspaces

To apply for a shared workspace, each member of that workspace must submit their own Gateway Enclave Workspace application with the following matching information:

• Names and email addresses of all researchers sharing the workspace
• The same types of data the workspace requires access to

If the shared workspace needs access to sensitive-use data files, each member must also submit a separate application for sensitive-use data, apply for the same types of sensitive-use data, and provide IRB documentation from their own institution, confirming approval for their research.

We can only grant access to files that have been approved for all members of the shared workspace.

Example Code for Merging Data in Stata

Merging Harmonized Data with Household-Level Original Survey Data

Load Harmonized LASI
use "filepath\H_LASI_a3.dta"
Merge LASI household survey data
merge m:1 hhid using "filepath\lasi_w1b_hh.dta"

Merging Harmonized Core Data with Harmonized End of Life Data

Load Harmonized HRS
use "filepath\H_HRS_d.dta"
Merge Harmonized HRS End of Life
merge 1:1 hhidpn using "filepath\H_HRS_EOL_a.dta"

Appending Harmonized Data from Multiple Countries

Load Harmonized ELSA
use "filepath\H_ELSA_g3.dta"
Append Harmonized LASI
append using "filepath\H_LASI_a3.dta"