The first step is to create an ICPSR account. Click this link to the ICPSR home page and click the "Create an Account" link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
To begin a project involving data analysis, you will first need to search for a dataset to answer your research questions. Then you can download the dataset and run a simple statistical procedure(*) on your own computer with your own software, or you can use the online data analysis system for a selection of the ICPSR datasets available on our site.
* You will need basic statistical skills for using the online analysis system and more advanced skills for running your own analysis, although SAS, SPSS, AND Stata setup files are provided with many ICPSR datasets.