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POLS 4150: Research Methods for Political Science: Data and Statistics

Social Sciences Statistical Data

For Stats Information & Data by subject, please have a look at the Statistical Information & Data LibGuide.

Statistics

Europa World : Contains detailed information about countries and international organizations worldwide.  

Covers political and economic information in over 250 countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Updated regularly!

OECD iLibrary (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) : Contains extensive statistical data which can be downloaded into spreadsheets. The database is especially rich in annual economic surveys of member countries, industry reports, and statistical reports.

ProQuest Statistical Insight : Coverage ranges across many topics including income, production, retail and wholesale trade, interest rates, economic indicators, demographics, energy, environmental protection, agriculture and fisheries, crime, medicine, and education.

UN Statistical Yearbook : Easy to navigate Yearbook of country statistics.

For more specific statistics (like education, finance), you can search the UNdata website.  It includes links to the online statistical abstracts of most nations.

Population Statistics

The best database for locating population data is Social Explorer.  It includes:

  • Census data from 1790 to 2010
  • American Community Survey (all)
  • Religion data - InfoGroup 2009
  • Religion data - RCMS 1980 to 2000

To find data, click on Maps and Tables and select one of two ways to use Social Explorer:

Browse Maps to easily create maps of specific statistics that you can export.  Ready menu choices include many of the available topics.

Browse Tables to retrieve more detailed tables containing various groupings of statistics.  How to use:  Select a dataset to query and follow the steps.   The list of topics, datasets, and suggested search keywords below might be helpful.

  • ancestry  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : ancestry
  • children in poverty  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : children poverty
  • college housing/dormitory population  Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters 
  • college graduates  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : educational attainment
  • correctional institution population Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters
  • emergency/transitional shelter population (total count of homeless population not available)  Use latest Decennial Census. Restrict to Summary File 1. Search by Keyword :group quarters type
  • English ability  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  english
  • families Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : families  Alternative: Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : household type
  • foreign-born population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : foreign  alternative : nativity
  • grandparents & grandchildren  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : grandparents  Alternative for grandchildren : Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : relationship 
  • high school graduates  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : educational attainment
  • Hispanic / Latino population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : hispanic   
  • homes - single detached, duplexes, mobile  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  units structure (duplex = 2 units in structure)
  • housing characteristics : age, costs, bedrooms, facilities   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keywords  :   year built ; costs ; bedrooms ; facilities
  • income by sex of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keywords  : income work sex
  • industry of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : industry
  • marital status  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : marital
  • movers (past year)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : residence
  • non-family households   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census. Search by Keyword  : non-family  (or nonfamily)
  • nursing facility population  Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters
  • occupation of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : occupation; or detailed occupation to find a table containing data for the full list of occupations used in detailed EEO tabulations.
  • older population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census.  Search by Keyword : age  (tables often include older age ranges). Also search by Keyword : 65 
  • owner occupied housing units  Use latest Decennial Census or American Community Survey 5 year dataset .  Search by keyword : tenure   To find total number of persons living in owner occupied homes : population tenure
  • place of work (i.e., county or town)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  place work
  • poverty status   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  poverty
  • religious affiliation   Use latest Religion (InfoGroup data) dataset.  Select broad table categories and look in table for individual denominations or Search by Keyword for individual denominations, e.g., Baptist.  NOTE: These data do not come from the Census Bureau.
  • renter occupied housing units  Use latest Decennial Census or American Community Survey 5 year dataset.  Search by keyword : tenure   To find total number of persons living in rental units : population tenure
  • same sex partner households  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : partner  (At present the Census Bureau groups this demographic with "unmarried partner" households.)
  • school enrollment and dropouts (i.e., not high school graduate, not enrolled)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : school
  • single-parent families   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : household type 18
  • Spanish speakers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : language
  • travel time to work   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  travel
  • unmarried partner households  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : partner
  • year moved into house  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : moved

Policy Map

PolicyMap:  Data and mapping application that provides access to continuously updated data related to demographics, socio-economics, mortgages and home sales, health statistics, jobs and employment, education and more. 

Contains crime statistics involving common crimes, broken down by violent and non-violent.

Contains data collected by other federal and state agencies aggregated into one place.