Research Guides: *Social Science Data Resources: Start here

Other Data Resources

Check the Resources for Data Analysis LibGuide for help with statistical methods and statistical software programs.

Check the U.S. Government Information LibGuide for sources of statistics and data sets.

Check other Subject LibGuides for data and statistical resources related to a specific subject.

Other Data and Statistics Directories

Cornell Institute for Social & Economic Research (CISER)
Data & Statistical Services, Princeton
DISC, U.W.-Madison
Harvard Dataverse
A free data repository open to all researchers from any discipline, both inside and outside of the Harvard community, where you can share, archive, cite, access, and explore research data
MIT Data Center

Make an Appointment

Set up an appointment to meet with Social Science Data Services staff to discuss your research and learn about one, or more, of the following:

what data is available
data formatting for analysis
using software to analyze data
data visualizations

Key Resources

ICPSR Data Archive
Personal registration using Northwestern email required for downloading.

This web site provides search and browsing access to abstracts and data sets in the world's largest archive of computerized social science data. Search or browse title of study, principal investigator, words in abstract, or study number. Browse major research categories.

Qualitative Data Repository (QDR)
Hosted at Syracuse University, QDR stores and preserves data and the website provides detailed guidance on key topics such as data management, research involving human participants, and teaching with qualitative data. QDR staff also regularly consult with scholars about their Data Management Plans (DMP).

ProQuest Statistical Insight
A master index to statistical publications from Federal, state, local, international, and other sources. Provides full text of selected tables, and links to many data-producing agencies.
Roper Center For Public Opinion Research
Personal registration needed in order to access datasets.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is one of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data held by the Roper Center range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented.
Statista
Provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on over 600 industries.

Gallup Analytics
Access to Gallup’s U.S. Daily tracking and World Poll data to compare residents’ responses region by region and nation by nation to questions on topics such as economic conditions, government and business, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and education.
United States Decennial Census
The Government Information Department has a rich collection of official copies in print of the Census of United States conducted between 1790 and 1970. We also have a series of GeoLytics Census Data Products for 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Census and CD/DVDs for 1990 and 2000 Census distributed by U.S. Census Bureau. For other historic census data, you may also check the University of Virginia Library’ Historical Census site.

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You can also get data access to recent census from the US Census website.
For other historic census data, you may also check with ICPSR and the University of Virginia Library’s Historical Census site.
For specific details you may consult with the American FactFinder at the U.S. Government census web site.
data.census.gov
Data.census.gov is the new platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau and has been designed to simplify access to the Bureau’s many data products. This chart shows data available. The 2020 Census data will be released on this site.

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The American FactFinder website will cease March 2020. No new data has been posted since June 2019.
American Fact Finder
The Census Bureau's primary vehicle for distributing recent Census data. Data from the 2000 and 2010 Census, economic censuses since 2002, and the American Community Survey are also available here.

Social Explorer
Provides selected historical data from the U.S. Decennial Census going back to 1790, as well as current data from the Census and the American Community Survey, and some religion data. Interactive mapping features allow you to generate small thematic maps from the data.

USA.gov - Data and Statistics about the United States
Features a list of data resources from Federal government agencies. Includes such topics as, business, economics, defense, international relations, environment, energy, agriculture, family, geospatial data, health, nutrition, jobs and education, public safety, science, technology, transportation, and recreation.
Data.gov
The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
r3data.org
The REgistry of REsearch Data REpositories is a global registry of research data repositories that covers research data repositories from different academic disciplines. It presents repositories for the permanent storage and access of data sets to researchers, funding bodies, publishers and scholarly institutions. re3data.org promotes a culture of sharing, increased access and better visibility of research data.
Google Dataset Search (beta)
Launched September 2018, Google builds on those organizations using open data practices. " ...you can find references to most datasets in environmental and social sciences, as well as data from other disciplines including government data and data provided by news organizations, such as ProPublica."

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Read the Google blog announcement of this new data set search engine.

Subject Guide

Anne Zald

Email Me

Contact:

Anne Zald
Subjects: Government Information; Social Science Data; Regulatory Compliance
Main Library Room 1214
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
anne.zald@northwestern.edu

847-467-6441

Subjects:Chicago Area, Data and Data Management, Government Information, International Studies, Regulatory Compliance