Welcome! This guide provides a listing of databases and resources to find data sets in the social sciences, business, and economics. Additionally, this guide provides some tips and best practices around various research data management (RDM) topics.
Below is a listing of various secondary data sources that can be used for behavioral sciences and business/economics research. Some sources are free and some are subscription-based. NOTE: this is just a handful of sources. There are MANY more to consider based on your research question of interest.
Uniform web interface to datasets in finance, economics and banking, from multiple sources, i.e. Standard & Poor’s Compustat, the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP,) and more. When off-campus, connect to Full VPN access. NOTE: Requires CMU email to access. After entering your CMU email address, a an email will be sent to you from WRDS with a link to access WRDS content.
A data archive of datasets related to social and political research, made available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. CMU affiliates have access to member-only data. To create an account, click Log In from the home page and then Create Account. Note that you must be in the CMU IP range when creating an account (either on campus, or using the Full VPN). Once an account is created, you can access the resource from any location using the link above. Use this guide for more info.
RAND State Statistics includes a collection of more than 200 socioeconomic databases that cover all 50 U.S. states. Databases contain an average of 20 years of data and cover topics including Births, Medicare, Median Household Income, Population by Multi-race/Ethnicity and Age Group, and Local Government Finances.
iPoll is a comprehensive, up-to-date source for US nationwide public opinion. A full-text retrieval system, the iPoll online database is organized at the question level, providing the tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys, 1935 to present. Surveys archived in the Roper Catalog were originally gathered by academic, commercial and media survey organizations such as Gallup Organization, Harris Interactive, Pew Research Associates, and many more.
