Research Resources and Tools

Search for and find data and resources that support researchers in conducting behavioral research. Explore selected data collection and analysis tools, cancer control publications, and a section dedicated to tobacco control research resources.

Featured Tool

Smokefree.gov logo

Smokefree.gov

Learn more about the various tools designed to help people quit smoking. Smokefree.gov includes a suite of resources, organized with specific audiences in mind.

BRP-supported resources

Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (CLASS)

Use data from this website to compare state laws on nutrition and physical education between states and policy changes over time.

Learn more about CLASS

Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS)

Study various aspects of health communication in the U.S. with these publicly available data about the public’s use of cancer-related information.

Obtain HINTS Data

Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study

Understand the lifestyle behaviors that relate to cancer risk with this collection of psychosocial, generational, and environmental survey data.

Learn More About the Study

Food Attitudes and Behaviors (FAB) Survey

Access the instrument, references, and analytic guide for a survey developed to evaluate a variety of factors that may be related to fruit and vegetable intake among adults.

View The Survey

General resources

Add Health

Explore data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a longitudinal study that began with a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7-12 in the U.S. during the 1994-95 school year.

American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

Obtain data on the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing.

Learn More About The Survey

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Access data, questionnaires, and more from this system of telephone surveys that collects state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.

About BRFSS

California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)

Obtain health data on California’s general population and various racial and ethnic groups.

Cancer Imaging Program

Access The Cancer Imaging Archive, a collection of medical images of cancer available for public use, through the NCI Cancer Imaging Program website.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

View data and publications from a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States using both interviews and physical examinations.

Learn More

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Cancer Control Supplement

This continuous, nationwide survey is a source of U.S. data for monitoring health patterns and trends, and for tracking progress toward national goals. NCI sponsors an annual Cancer Control Supplement (CCS) to the NHIS, which focuses on issues pertaining to knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cancer-related health behaviors, screening, and risk assessment.

Learn More About The Survey

National Lung Screening Trial Datasets and Images

Download comprehensive datasets, CT images and pathology images from the NCI National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) and search a database of research projects and publications.

Learn about NLST

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program

Explore statistical summaries for common cancer types, a “Did You Know?” video series, and other resources from the SEER program, which provides information on cancer statistics in an effort to reduce the cancer burden among the U.S. population.

Learn more about SEER

Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs

Use this searchable database to find evidence-based cancer control interventions and programs specifically for program planners and public health practitioners.

Search the Database

Group-Evaluated Measures (GEM)

Collaborate with others through this interactive website that contains behavioral and social science measures organized by theoretical construct.

Learn More About GEM

Guidance for Basic Experimental Studies Involving Humans

This webpage provides guidance to investigators conducting Basic Experimental Studies with Humans (BESH). It offers resources to help differentiate between a measurement and an intervention, learn about answering the 4 clinical trial questions for BESH, and more.

Learn more

Medical Image Perception Research Studies

Explore current medical image perception studies or submit your experiment to be featured.

Learn more

NCI Cancer Atlas

Use this interactive tool to create maps of cancer statistics, demographics, and risk factors.

Learn More

NCI Resources for Researchers

Search or browse this directory of over 200 NCI-supported tools and services for cancer researchers, most of which are free and available to anyone.

Search For Resources

NIH All of Us Data Browser Tool

Use this tool for interactive views of the All of Us Research Program participant data that is currently available to the public, a resource that will grow over time.

NIH Protocol Template for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

This NIH template is a suggested format for clinical trials that are testing a behavioral or social intervention or experimental manipulation.

Access the protocol template

State Cancer Profiles

Use this interactive U.S. map to get a report of a specific state’s cancer statistics and other related information.

Learn more about State Cancer Profiles

Team Science Toolkit

Refer to this collection of user-generated resources to add a team science element to your research.

Discover Team-Based Research

Theories Project: Improving Theories of Health Behavior

See how the Theories Project is working to improve theory-focused research.

See Past Activities

Hall KL, Vogel AL, Croyle RT. Strategies for Team Science Success: Handbook of Evidence-Based Principles for Cross-Disciplinary Science and Practical Lessons Learned from Health Researchers. Cham, Switzerland: Springer; 2019.

Berrigan D, Berger N. Geospatial Approaches to Energy Balance and Breast Cancer. Cham, Switzerland: Springer; 2019.

Peterson EB, Chou WS, Rising C, Gaysynsky A. The Role and Impact of Health Literacy on Peer-to-Peer Health Communication. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2020;269:497-510.

Accumulating Data to Optimally Predict Obesity Treatment (ADOPT) Core Measure: Environmental Domain

Access data layers and/or detailed methods for the environmental variables recommended by the ADOPT environmental working group.

Learn more

Activities Completed over Time in 24 hours (ACT24)

Estimate previous-day summary values for physical activity and sedentary behavior with this free, web-based recall instrument that complements the ASA24 Dietary Assessment Tool.

Learn more

Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour (ASA24) Dietary Assessment Tool

Use this free, web-based tool to collect multiple, automatically coded, self-administered 24-hour diet recalls and/or single or multi-day food records.

Learn more

Constructs and Measures for Health Behavior

Find out how definitions of major theoretical constructs such as barriers, normative beliefs, and self-efficacy are used in health behavior research.

Search Constructs and Measures

National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) Measures Registry

Assess diet, physical activity, and the environments in which these behaviors occur through this searchable database of diet and physical activity measures.

NIH Common Data Element (CDE) Resource Portal

Access information about NIH-supported CDEs, as well as tools and resources that can be helpful in developing protocols for data collection.

View Resource Portal

NIH Toolbox

Access a comprehensive set of neuro-behavioral measurements that quickly assess cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions from the convenience of an iPad.

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)

Use this set of person-centered measures to evaluate and monitor physical, mental, and social health in adults and children. This resource can be used with the general population and with individuals living with chronic conditions.

PhenX

Use PhenX to build consensus for standard measures of phenotypes and exposures to integrate biomedical, genomic, and epidemiologic research.

Cancer Patient Tobacco Use Questionnaire (C-TUQ)

Learn more about tobacco use in the cancer setting through a questionnaire developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the American Association for Cancer Research. Domains include cigarette smoking history and current use, use relative to cancer diagnosis and treatment, other tobacco product use, cessation, and secondhand exposure.

Measures Guide for Youth Tobacco Research

Achieve consistency of measurement across studies for describing smoking patterns, establishing inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation, measuring potentially important mediators and moderators of treatment outcomes, and measuring tobacco use outcomes.

Explore the Guide

NCI Tobacco Policy Viewer

Use this interactive tool to map, query, and download historical smoke-free policy data in the United States. It reveals variation across U.S. cities, counties, and states by the types of indoor areas that are smoke-free, length of time since the smoke-free policy came into effect, and number of people who are protected by the policy.

Tobacco Monograph Series

Find ongoing and timely information about emerging public health issues in smoking and tobacco use control.

Explore the Series

Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS)

Use this data set for national, state, and sub-state data on tobacco use and cessation behaviors, social norms, tobacco-related attitudes, and U.S. policies.

Learn more about and access TUS-CPS data

Smoking Cessation Resources

The Smokefree suite of resources offers a variety of tools designed to help people quit smoking, organized with specific audiences in mind.

Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs

Use this searchable database for easy and immediate access to programs tested in a research study, publication(s) of the study findings, and program materials used with a particular study population in a specific setting. Search by program topic area such as physical activity, sun safety, and tobacco control.

 

Podcast Series of Tobacco Use After A Cancer Diagnosis

NCI collaborated with the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco University (SRNT-U) to create a podcast series on tobacco use after cancer diagnosis. The series features a collection of audio interviews with oncologists and researchers around the world addressing the implications of tobacco use after cancer diagnosis, relevance for cancer clinical trials, and the current approaches and challenges in assisting cancer patients and survivors to quit tobacco. The interviews also serve as a guide for future high priority research. Requires a free account on the SRNT website to access the recordings.

Explore the Podcast
Last Updated
June 29, 2023