CMU LibGuides: Heinz College: 90-717 Writing for Public Policy: Data and Statistics

Google Dataset Search

Try Google's dataset search. Search the web for datasets on any topic.

Commercial data aggregators

The library offers access to a number of commercial products that aim to facilitate the discovery and use of data from public and private sources.

Statista This link opens in a new window
Market, industry, company, and demographic statistics, data-centered reports and dossiers, fully downloadable, various formats, international, easy-to-use.

Includes access to the Consumer Insights (formerly Global Consumer Survey, a resource that offers global consumption and media usage data of consumers. A great market research tool for consumer behavior and interactions with brands. Select the Insights > Explore Consumer Insights within Statista.
Sage Data This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary datasets with mapping, graphing, and report-generating capability. Includes tons of datasets for business, industry, labor, energy, population, income, health, politics, and more.
Data Citation Index This link opens in a new window
On the Web of Science (WoS), this provides a single point of access to quality research data from repositories across disciplines and around the world. Access an array of data across subjects and regions, providing a comprehensive picture of research output to understand data in context and maximize research efforts. Find the Data Citation Index database on the WoS homepage from the top dropdown menu next to Search.

ProQuest Statistical Insight
is a multi-disciplinary statistics database that indexes statistical data from U.S. government publications from 1973, state and private sources from 1980, and international organizations from 1983.

Sage Stats This link opens in a new window
Features data series created from more than 50,000 government and non-government datasets, covering popular topics of research interest for U.S. states, counties, cities, and metropolitan areas. Database has been retired and statistics are now incorporated into the DataPlanet database. Link redirects there.
eMarketer (now Insider Intelligence) This link opens in a new window
New platform includes access to eMarketer content and Business Insider Intelligence content. eMarketer offers data and insights to the digital media consumer market. It focuses on understanding how consumers spend their time and money online and how marketers can best communicate with them via digital channels. Industries covered include automotive, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, telecom and media and entertainment.

Searching for data and statistics

Data and statistics are gathered and disseminated by many organizations, federal agencies, individual researchers, companies and more, often making it difficult to find just the data or statistic you need. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you embark on a search for data and statistics:

Data vs. Statistics:

While the terms data and statistics are often used interchangeably, they actually aren't the same! Data refers to the raw information that is collected and if often in the form of a spreadsheet, where each row represents one case. Statistics are summaries of data, often provided as a percentage, proportion, or average value. Do you need raw data or a summary statistic to answer your question?

Time frame and geographic scope

Think about what time frame and geography you're interested in. Do you need historical information, or information spanning several years? Or just the most current information? Do you want information at a country, state or local level? Do you need international, non-US data or statistics?

Who collects and disseminates the data?

Think about who would likely collect the data and disseminate the data or statistics for you topic. Would this data be collected by a large federal agency in a nationwide survey? If so, which agency? Or would it be more likely collected by a non-profit organization at a local scale?

Consider different sources

There are many places to look for data. Here is a series of search strategies to try. You'll find links to many of these sources in this research guide.

Data aggregators through the Libraries: These are searchable databases that bring together data and statistics from many different sources. This can be a good place to start. Examples are DataPlanet Statistical Datasets, Statista, Insider Intelligence and Roper iPoll.
Data producers: If the above aggregators don't work, look for data and statistics directly from the agencies and organizations that are likely to collect and disseminate that data. You'll find some of these in the boxes below.
Published literature: Researchers regularly use publicly available datasets, or their own datasets that they share, or report useful statistics in their publications. Try searching databases like those on the Finding Research and Industry News tab of this guide.
Targeted internet searches: If you still haven't found what you need, try searching Google and Google Dataset Search. Add terms like 'data' or 'statistics' to your search terms. You can also add filetype:xls to limit your search to Excel files.
Ask the Library! Contact Sarah Young, your liaison librarian, for more help finding data and statistics.

United States Statistics

US Census
This is the home page of the US Census website. From here, you can find quick links to frequently sought after data and statistics, and links to more information about the US Census. The US Census has many data collection program including the Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, the Economic Census, Current Population Survey, Survey of Business Owners and more.
US Census Data Portal
This is the main portal to the data and statistics collected by the US Census Bureau. Includes voluminous demographic data on the U.S. from national to zip code level.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
FRED is a database maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It contains thousands of economic time series and covers topics including banking, consumer price indexes, exchange rates, interest rates and much more. It includes some international information.
Data.gov
The US government's open data portal. Provides a one-stop location for searching data from across US government agencies and branches.

RAND State Statistics This link opens in a new window
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.

Population Reference Bureau
PRB provides instant summaries, both graphically and in text, of the demographic features of the U.S. population. Data can be customized by users on such topics as population estimates and projections, race and ethnicity, migration, income and poverty, the elderly population, and more. The data also may be downloaded.

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Visual and numerical presentation of U.S. census data and a wide range of demographic information, 1790 – present. Creates maps and reports at levels from national to block group.

International Statistics

Country Statistical Yearbooks
This guide from the University of Wisconsin provides a thorough list of links to the statistical yearbooks or similar collection of 154 countries. Yearbooks typically include economic and demographic data and indicators.

Cross-National Time Series Data Archive This link opens in a new window
The Cross-National Time Series Data Archive was originally established to provide access to the longitudinal data from The Statesmen's Yearbook. The Archive now houses annual data from 200 countries dating back to 1815 on a range of topics related to social science research, including topics such as urbanization, transportation, economics and much more.

Demographic and Health Surveys
The DHS programs collects and disseminates on populations, health, HIV and nutrition for over 90 countries.
EU Open Data Portal
The European Union Open Data Portal (EU ODP) provides access to an expanding range of data from the European Union (EU) institutions and other EU bodies."
Global Health Data Exchange
A comprehensive catalog of surveys, censuses, vital statistics, and other health-related data from around the world. Maintained by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Global Health Observatory
The World Health Organization provides this portal to access data and statistics related to issues of global health.
Interational Statistical Agencies
Many statistics are gathered by governments at the country level. This page provides a list of links to statistical agencies around the world.
OECD iLibrary Statistics
Multiple international datasets from the OECD, covering all topics: agriculture, health, economics, patents, R&D, migration, telecommunication, etc., plus all energy industry data from the IEA.
UN Data
This site provides a portal into the wealth of data and statistics collected by the United Nations. Topics covered include health, demography, migration, employment, income, trade and much more.
World DataBank
World Bank datasets for development indicators for all countries in finance, communications, environment, education, labor, health, and economics, current and historical. You can also search their microdata catalog .

Public Opinion and Polling

The Roper Center Public Opinion Research Archive
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is one of the world’s leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from public opinion surveys. Click here for a quick link to Roper's questions and data on leisure activities.
Pew Global Attitudes Project Key Indicators Database
Pew Research Center conducts public opinion surveys around the world on a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world and important issues of the day. This site offers online data analysis and raw data download.
Pew Internet & American Life
"The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project aims to be an authoritative source on the evolution of the internet through surveys that examine how Americans use the internet and how their activities affect their lives."
The Gallup Organization
The Gallup site contains polling results from 1997 to the present. These reports include a summary, the questions asked, and the results for specific questions.

Mapping Tools

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Visual and numerical presentation of U.S. census data and a wide range of demographic information, 1790 – present. Creates maps and reports at levels from national to block group.
PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
A U.S. national data and mapping tool and analytics platform with multidisciplinary applications. Useful for social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration, public health, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, and geography, among others. Includes thousands of U.S. data indicators for demographic and socioeconomic analysis, from a neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level.