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- Grand Canyon University Library
- Research Guides
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- Finding Data in Public Sources
Data & Statistics
Getting Started With Finding Statistics & Data on Public Websites
Many public agencies, universities, governmental bodies, and non-governmental organizations provide access to the data they collect. Most US federal agencies have a statistical or data collection agency within them, such as the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
- If you don't know which agency might collect the data you are interested in, start on Data.gov below.
- The Google search engines, also below, or DataCite are also good ways of finding where data is located or who is collecting it.
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Maximizing Social Science Research Through Publicly Accessible Data Sets
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ISBN: 9781522536178Publication Date: 2017-10-31 -
- Data.gov This link opens in a new windowThe home of the U.S. Government’s open data.
Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
- DataCite This link opens in a new windowDataCite is a leading global non-profit organization that provides persistent identifiers (DOIs) for research data and other research outputs. Their metadata search can help you identify existing research data and where to access it.
- Google Dataset Search This link opens in a new windowGoogle, refined to search just for datasets.
- Google Public Data This link opens in a new windowLocate datasets from public sources.
- Re3data This link opens in a new windowRe3data is a global registry of research data repositories that covers research data repositories from different academic disciplines.
- ResearchDataGov This link opens in a new windowResearchDataGov is a web portal for discovering and requesting access to restricted microdata from federal statistical agencies.
General & Demographic Statistical Sources
- EuroStat--European Commission Statistics This link opens in a new windowEurostat is the statistical office of the European Union.
- Harvard Dataverse This link opens in a new windowHarvard Dataverse is a repository for research data.
- ICPSR: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new windowInteruniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides downloadable data on a number of different topics related to the social sciences including economic behavior, education, health care, governments, organizational behavior, and more.
- International Statistical Agencies This link opens in a new windowCompiled by the U.S. Census, International Statistical Agencies provides links to the official statistical agencies for different countries.
- OECD Data This link opens in a new windowData made available from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with topics including economics, energy, education, health, innovation & technology, and government among others.
- openAFRICA This link opens in a new windowAfrica's largest volunteer driven open data platform.
- Population Reference Bureau This link opens in a new windowPRB analyzes and disseminates information about populations and their health and well-being so it can be used to inform decisions that improve lives around the world.
- Statistics Canada This link opens in a new windowStatistics Canada is the national statistical office of Canada.
- U.S. Census Data This link opens in a new windowEnter a state, county, city, town, or zip code and find information on population, age, business and industry, education, housing, income, origins and language, poverty and veterans.
- United Nations Data This link opens in a new windowUNdata is an internet-based data service allowing users to search and download a variety of statistical resources from the United Nations System.
- World Bank DataBank This link opens in a new windowDataBank is an analysis and visualization tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics.
Business & Economic Statistics
- AidData This link opens in a new windowHoused at William & Mary's Global Research Institute, AidData connects decision-makers and researchers who have a shared interest in working together using granular data and innovative tools to solve pressing problems, precisely target resources, and use rigorous evidence to measure the impacts—intended and unintended—of policies and investments.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics This link opens in a new windowStatistics on the U.S. economy and work.
- Enterprise Surveys This link opens in a new windowA World Bank Enterprise Survey is a firm-level survey of a representative sample of an economy’s private sector. The surveys cover a broad range of business environment topics including access to finance, corruption, infrastructure, competition, and performance measures.
- FAO STATS This link opens in a new windowThe UN's Food & Agriculture's global food monitoring service, with statistics from most countries.
- Federal Reserve Economic Data This link opens in a new windowFrom the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Includes a range of U.S. and international economic data (price indexes, exchange rates, interest rates, GDP, trade balances, etc.).
- Food Environment Atlas This link opens in a new windowU.S. data on food consumption and availability by county.
- Industry Statistics Portal This link opens in a new windowFrom the Census Bureau, detailed statistics about American industry.
- INFOODS This link opens in a new windowThe UN's Food & Agriculture Organization's central repository for collected data on food from member nations.
- Odum Institute Archive Dataverse This link opens in a new windowThe Odum Institute Archive Dataverse contains social science data curated and archived by the Odum Institute Data Archive at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Some key collections include the primary holdings of the Louis Harris Data Center, the National Network of State Polls, and other Southern-focused public opinion data.
Criminal Justice Statistics
- Bureau of Justice Statistics This link opens in a new windowCriminal justice statistics from the U.S. federal government.
- Criminal Justice Administrative Records System This link opens in a new windowThe Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is a data infrastructure project revolutionizing research and statistical reporting on the U.S. criminal justice system.
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting This link opens in a new windowHomepage of the FBI's UCR program.
- Gun Violence Archive This link opens in a new windowGun violence and crime incidents are collected/validated from 7,500 sources daily.
- National Archive of Criminal Justice Data This link opens in a new windowThe National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) is the place to discover, access, and analyze data on crime and justice.
- Stanford Open Policing Project This link opens in a new windowThe Stanford Open Policing Project is collecting and standardizing data on vehicle and pedestrian stops from law enforcement departments across the country.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime This link opens in a new windowUNODC research constitutes the key global authority in the fields of drugs and crime, providing high-quality, essential evidence to inform policy-making and valuable sources of knowledge in drugs and crime domains, including in the framework of the Sustainable Development Agenda.
Education Statistics
- Digest of Education Statistics This link opens in a new windowProvides educational statistics such as student enrollment, teacher/student ratios, and other statistics.
- Education Data Explorer This link opens in a new windowThe Education Data Explorer allows you to build your own dataset, by narrowing your search by education level, geography, timeframe, and indicator.
- National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) This link opens in a new windowThe Nation's Education Report Card.
- National Center for Education Statistics This link opens in a new windowThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a government entity charged with collecting, collating, analyzing, and reporting statistics on American education.
- United States Education Dashboard This link opens in a new windowProvides a visually pleasing look at the nation's progress toward creating life long learners.
Healthcare Statistics
- CDC: Health Expenditures This link opens in a new windowFastStats is the CDC's quick statistics overview site, with links to more in depth data.
- CDC Data This link opens in a new windowThe CDC's central clearinghouse to access their datasets.
- CMS: Research, Statistics, Data & Systems This link opens in a new windowDatasets from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
- Mental Health Data This link opens in a new windowMental health statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- Health Resources and Services Administration: Data & Statistics This link opens in a new windowThe Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.
- National Center for Health Statistics This link opens in a new windowProvides U.S. public health statistics including diseases, pregnancies, births, aging, and mortality.
- National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network - CDC This link opens in a new windowThe National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) is a system of integrated health, exposure, and hazard information and data from a variety of national, state, and city sources.
- National Institute of Mental Health Statistics This link opens in a new windowStatistical portal for NIMH.
- Rural Health Information Hub This link opens in a new windowThe Rural Health Information Hub, formerly the Rural Assistance Center, is funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to be a national clearinghouse on rural health issues.
- STATcompiler This link opens in a new windowThe DHS Program STATcompiler allows users to make custom tables based on thousands of demographic and health indicators across more than 90 countries.
- State Health Facts This link opens in a new windowData collated by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- UNICEF Data This link opens in a new windowUNICEF's data portal.
- World Health Organization This link opens in a new windowCountry profiles of members of the World Health Organization.
Scientific Data
- EnviroFacts This link opens in a new windowThe EPA's portal for geographical based information on the environment in the U.S.
- EPA Environmental Data Gateway This link opens in a new windowA central site for EPA data.
- FAA Data This link opens in a new windowAccess to accident data and air space usage statistics.
- Forest Service Open Data This link opens in a new windowData from the Forest Service on forests, federal land, and national parks.
- NASA Data This link opens in a new windowDATA.NASA.GOV is NASA's clearinghouse site for open-data provided to the public.
- NOAA This link opens in a new windowThe National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration collects data on the oceans, weather, and atmosphere.
- UN Environmental Programme This link opens in a new windowData and publications from the United Nations.
- World Bank Environmental Data This link opens in a new windowCharts and statistics from the World Bank.
Religions & Faith Statistics
- Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) This link opens in a new windowThe Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) strives to democratize access to the best data on religion.
- British Religion in Numbers This link opens in a new windowBritish Religion in Numbers is an online religious data resource.
- Faith Communities Today This link opens in a new windowA multifaith research coalition conducting surveys and practical reports on congregations and congregational life in the U.S.
- Pew Research: Muslims and Islam This link opens in a new windowSurvey data collected by Pew Research.
- Religious Landscape Study This link opens in a new windowSurvey from Pew Research.
- U.S. Religion Census This link opens in a new windowThe latest data is from 2020.
