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General Sources of Data
- Re3Data.org: Registry of Research Data Depositoriesa tool for helping people identify and locate online repositories of research data. Users and bibliographers create and curate records that describe data repositories that users can search. Hundreds of data sources are cataloged in this resource.
- Open Access Directory of Data RepositoriesMaintains lists of open access data repositories for a wide range of subject areas.
- Dataset Search from GoogleDataset Search is a search engine for datasets
Library Subscriptions to Data Sources
- Social Explorer
Social Explorer provides quick and easy access to modern and historical socioeconomic and demographic data, bringing together quantitative data with a visual interface to make demographic research, the analysis of social trends, and comparison of neighborhoods, communities, counties, and other areas accessible and interactive.
- Statista
Statista is an online statistics portal providing access to data from market and opinion research institutions, as well as from business organizations and government institutions.
- Sage Data Foundations
Sage Data Foundations is a dynamic tool which enables users to scan and search the contents of billions of datasets from the United States. Results can be compared and contrasted, and viewed in customizable tables, maps, rankings, and charts. Views also include descriptive summaries of the datasets and data sources. Sources include public, private/commercial, and nongovernmental organizations, as well as Woods & Poole Economics, Inc.
- ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
A vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, containing thousands of digital files of social science research data in political science, sociology, economics, criminal justice, and more.
- ProQuest Global NewsstreamAn online newspaper resource that includes international, national and regional papers. Allows for some bulk downloads with limitations. Contact your librarian for assistance.
Reference & Instruction Librarian
International Data Sets
International Data Sets (IGOs, NGOs, etc)
- UN DataFind political, economic, and social data.
- World Bank Open DataFree and open access to global development data.
- World Health Organization: Global Health ObservatoryExplore a world of health data
- International Monetary Fund: Data and StatisticsEconomic and finance data from the IMF.
- Our World in DataInternational data on all kinds of policy-related topics, including technology, time-use, and social connections. You can download the data as a CSV file. Check out the Source tab for information about the data file and the source of the data.
- UK Data Service : Information and CommunicationThe UK Data Service holds data on a wide range of ICT topics, such as mobile communication, telework, social-media, radio, television, internet use, mass media, infrastructure, security and trust.
- World Values Surveyan international research program devoted to the scientific and academic study of social, political, economic, religious and cultural values of people in the world.
- Freedom House Democracy RatingRates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories through its annual Freedom in the World report.
- United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development IndexThe Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development.
- International Telecommunications Union (ITU) StatisticsITU is the official source for global information and communication technology statistics.
International Barometers
- Global Barometer SurveyThe Global Barometer Survey is a comprehensive effort to measure the current social, political, and economic atmosphere around the world. It provides an independent, non-partisan, multidisciplinary view of public opinion on a range of policy-relevant issues.
- EurobarometerEurobarometer is the polling instrument used by the European Commission, the European Parliament and other EU institutions and agencies to monitor regularly the state of public opinion in Europe.
- Asian BarometerThe Asian Barometer Survey is a cross-national comparative survey focused on socioeconomic modernization, regime transition and democratization, and changes in political values across the East Asia region.
- AfrobarometerAfrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, the economy, and society.
- Arab BarometerArab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of citizens across the Arab world.
- Americas BarometerPeriodic study of 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere
- Global Data BarometerCollaborative project that aims to measure the state of data in relation to urgent societal issues.
National
US Governmental Data Sets
- data.census.gov
This resource replaces the now defunct American FactFinder. This is the U.S. Census Bureau's main vehicle for distributing U.S. census data, including economic censuses and surveys and annual population estimates. Population, housing, economic and geographic data can be found here.
- Data.govA U.S. government data archive.
- End of Term Web ArchiveThe End of Term Web Archive captures and saves U.S. Government websites at the end of presidential administrations. The EOT has thus far preserved websites from administration changes in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020, and is currently archiving websites from 2024.
- Library of Congress Web Data SetsIn order to better facilitate research and to better understand the needs of users who might be interested in the Library of Congress Web Archives, the Library's Web Archiving Team is working to create and make available a number of derivative datasets available for users to download, re-use and explore.
Academic
Interdisciplinary Data Sources from Universities & Research Centers
- ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
A vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, containing thousands of digital files of social science research data in political science, sociology, economics, criminal justice, and more.
- American National Election StudiesNational Survey of US voters conducted since 1948 before and after national elections. Based out of the University of Michigan
- Panel Study on Income DynamicsA longitudinal survey of a representative sample of US individuals and the families in which they reside. Collected annually since 1968. Based out of the University of Michigan.
- Pew Research Center Data SetsPew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.
- Harvard DataverseFind data across research fields, preview metadata, and download files
- World Historical DataverseHistorical data sets for many countries. Includes economic data, opium use, demographics, silver, trade, disease, slaves, mortality, etc.
- The Qualitative Data RepositoryHosted at Syracuse University, QDR stores and preserves data and the website provides detailed guidance on data topics.
Media
Select Media Data Sets
- GDELT DatasetsComplete listing of GDELT Project data sets including Emotions of American Television; ngram datasets; and television explorer.
- Global Stats: Social Media StatsCurrent statistics for top global social media platforms
- Media CloudMedia Cloud is an open source platform for studying media ecosystems. By tracking millions of stories published online, their suite of tools allows researchers to track how stories and ideas spread through media. These tools are designed to aggregate, analyze, deliver and visualize information, answering complex quantitative and qualitative questions about the content of online media.
- Stanford Large Network Dataset CollectionThe SNAP library is being actively developed since 2004 and is organically growing as a result of our research pursuits in analysis of large social and information networks
- NaN Data RepositoryNaN is a research group exploring complex systems, adaptive agents, modeling, simulation, artificial life, and complex (information, biological, and social) networks.
- Gallup PollsA global analytics firm with a focus on public opinion research. Proprietary data with some publicly released.
- Advertising Age
Advertising Age, with Datacenter, provides news, reports, and statistics about the advertising industry. It covers strategic topics for marketers, including breaking news, creative companies, and original rankings. Access articles and data on marketing, media, and agencies. For off-campus access follow the database link and then create an account with the “register for free” link in the top right corner. Be sure to register with your BGSU email address to get free access through the library.