The "Public Access Tabulated Health Statistics" (PATHS) initiative comprises the PATHS Repository and the PATHS Data Builder.
The PATHS Repository is a centralized system for curating, documenting, and preserving publicly available health data sources.
PATHS catalogs public-use datasets using standardized metadata that describe dataset characteristics, provenance, and documentation. Each dataset is archived and maintained to ensure persistent access, even if the original source changes or becomes unavailable.
The primary goals of the PATHS Repository are to support transparent data provenance, promote reproducible research, and provide a stable foundation for downstream data assembly and analysis.
The PATHS Data Builder is a tool for generating analysis-ready datasets from publicly available health data sources.
PATHS maintains a curated catalog of public-use datasets, each of which is documented with standardized metadata and source information. The Data Builder allows users to select one or more of these data sources and specify a geographic unit of analysis (e.g., census tract, county, or state). Selected data are then extracted, processed, and returned in a structured format suitable for analysis.
The primary goals of the PATHS Data Builder are to improve reproducibility, reduce manual data-wrangling effort, and provide consistent access to well-documented public health data.