Starting with the 1975-2017 SEER Data, there are two data products available: SEER Research and SEER Research Plus (see the SEER Data Change History). The changes were motivated because of concerns about the increasing risk of re-identifiability of individuals. The Research Plus databases require a more rigorous process for access that includes user authentication, see How to Request Access to SEER Data.
Variable Availability
The Research databases exclude variables because of issues of confidentiality or with complexity or limitations in the ways that the variables could be analyzed or interpreted. The Research Plus databases provide access to the additional variables, though some are not available at the individual level in SEER*Stat case listing sessions.
For documentation about the Research and Research Plus databases, including a dictionary of all the variables included by data product, see SEER*Stat Database Details for the November 2021 Submission.
| Variable Name | Reason for Exclusion from Research Data | Research Plus Availability in Case Listing* |
|---|---|---|
| SEER Registry | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
| Louisiana 2005 - 1st vs 2nd half of year | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
| County | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
| State-County | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
| Month of diagnosis | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
| Month of diagnosis recode | Confidentiality | Not in case listing |
SEER registry (with CA and GA as whole states) |
Confidentiality | In case listing |
| PRCDA Region | Confidentiality | In case listing |
| Age at diagnosis up to 99 | Confidentiality | In case listing |
| Marital status at diagnosis | Confidentiality | In case listing |
| Radiation recode | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
| Chemotherapy recode (yes, no/unk) | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
| Radiation to Brain or CNS Recode (1988-1997) | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
| RX Summ--Systemic Surg Seq | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
| Radiation sequence with surgery | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
| Months from diagnosis to treatment | Analysis/interpretation | In case listing |
*Case listings are a session type in the SEER*Stat software that allow you to view individual records in the data.
Access Requirements by Data Product
In addition to the Research and Research Plus databases, SEER makes available several Specialized Databases that include additional fields that SEER collects and are not part of the standard research databases. A summary of the access requirements by product type is available in the table below.
| Access and Data Use Requirements | Data Products | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Research | Research Plus | Specialized | |
| Valid email | Valid email linked to an authenticated user | Valid email linked to an authenticated user | |
| User Authentication | Not required | Valid institutional account (or signing best practices and agreement of signing official) | Valid institutional account |
| Completion of Application Form | Required | Required | Required; applicant to select the specialized dataset |
| Data User Agreement | Required | Required | Required (may include addendum) |
| Acknowledgement of Data Limitations | Required | Required | Required; database specific |
| Analysis Plan Review and Approval | Not required | Not required | Research questions and analytic plan |
| Availability of Individual Data | Individual data available | Limited1 | Limited1, database specific |
| Suppression in SEER*Stat | None | None | None |
| Suppression in Publication | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Notes:
- Individual data is NOT available when using some variables that were not included in the Research Files. See the variable availability table above for details.
