Research Guides: Data & Statistics: Data & Statistics Sources (Federal)

Strategy For Finding Data.

Ask the question: What organization or agency would likely collect this data?

Government Agencies? Government Agencies collect data at all levels to aid policy decisions. It is generally distributed free via the internet. Organizations ? Larger data sets are generally available in SPSS, Excel, SAS or Stata formats.

Statistical Compendia

Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista has a global focus, with many interesting tables downloadable in multiple formats.
Statista also provides a variety of reports and graphs about popular and current topics.
Language: English
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Visually explore hundreds of thousands of variables related to demography, economics, health, politics, the environment and more, with the ability to generate custom reports and maps.
Content type: Data
Special Note: Create an account to save data.
U.S. data sources include the decennial census, American Community Survey, FBI Uniform Crime Report, American election results, Religious Congregations and Membership Study, Vulcan Project carbon emissions data, U.S. Business Patterns, and County Health Rankings. It also includes international data from the United Kingdom Census, Canadian Census, Eurostat, and World Development Indicators.
Language: English
Sage Data This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Gateway to billions of datapoints from a range of organizations with valuable tools to help interpret and visualize selected data sets.
Content type: Data
Coverage dates: 1948-present
Language: English
Keywords: Data Planet Insight
ICPSR Data Archive This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access data in various downloadable formats from a broad range of social science fields.
Content type: Data
Special Note: Some content requires an individual user account.
Language: English
Keywords: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Roper iPoll This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access public opinion data from polls conducted by major United States and international polling organizations.
Content type: Opinion poll data
Coverage dates: 1930-present
Polls are produced by major news organizations (such as CBS, ABC, and the Associated Press), public opinion research centers (such as Gallup, Harris, and Pew), and major academic and commercial pollsters. Polls cover a variety of topics, including social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, science, the environment, and many more.
Language: English
Keywords: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

SSRN: Social Science Research Network
Devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research