Research Guides: Political Science: Find Data

How to Find Data

We have a comprehensive guide to finding data. Use the guide linked below to learn the basics, test out repositories, and discover subject-specific data sources.

How to Find Data Guide

Country Level Data

Economic Intelligence Unit
The EIU provides country, risk and industry analysis, across 200 countries worldwide.
BBC News - Country Profiles
Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. They also include audio and video clips from BBC archives.
Library of Congress Country Studies
Contains the electronic versions of 80 books previously published in hard copy as part of the Country Studies Series by the Federal Research Division. Intended for a general audience, books in the series present a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of select countries throughout the world. Most books in the series deal with a single foreign country, but a few cover several countries or a geographic region. The series includes several books on countries that no longer exist in their original configuration—such as Czechoslovakia, East Germany, the Soviet Union, Sudan, and Yugoslavia. These books remain in the series because they continue to offer valuable historical information and perspective. In some cases, studies on successor states are also part of the series.

Featured resource

Historical census data (1790-2010), data from the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (1980-2000), interactive maps, data reports, & more!

Recommended Data Sources

Data Planet
Explore a vast collection of US and international statistics in Data-Planet Statistical Datasets. You can scan and search the contents of billions of datasets, compare and contrast variables of interest, and create customized views in tables, maps, rankings, and charts. Views also include descriptive summaries of the datasets and data sources. Datasets cover a wide range of subjects – including business, finance, banking, economics, sociology, political science, demography, agriculture, education, international studies, criminal justice, housing and construction, labor and employment, energy resources and industries, and more. Sources include public, private/commercial, and nongovernmental organizations.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
ICPSR is an archive of behavioral and social science data; most datasets are raw, primary data drawn from surveys, censuses, and administrative records. Several search tools are available for datasets or browse for them by categories such as topic, series, geography, investigator, or international. After finding a data set, users can click on the title to find its Study Home Page.
Special topics include: Aging, Arts and Culture, Criminal Justice, Health and Mental Health, Race and Ethnicity.
To download datasets you must set up an account using your Davidson email. Davidson is a member of ICPSR; use of the data is restricted to Davidson students, faculty and staff engaged in non-commercial research projects.
International Financial Statistics
(1945 to present) Online version of the IMF's International Financial Statistics. Contains over 34,000 annual, quarterly, and monthly time series of financial and economic data for more than 200 countries. Includes exchange rates, IMF position, international liquidity, money and banking accounts, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government accounts, national accounts, and population.
Use is restricted to current faculty and staff and currently-enrolled students of Davidson College only.
UNdata
Contains official statistics produced by countries as well as statistics, estimates, projections, indicators, and other data from United Nations Statistics and Population Divisions and other United Nations agencies. Subjects covered include agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labor, national accounts, population, and tourism.
World DataBank
(1960 - present) Time series data on a variety of topics related to developing countries; includes World Development Indicators. From the World Bank.

World Health Organization (WHO)
An agency of the United Nations dedicated to issues surrounding international public health.

U.S. Data

Data.gov
A gateway to data from the Executive Branch of the Federal Government; provides descriptions of and access to a variety of data sets.

FedStats
Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
(c. 1935 to present) Provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University, Roper iPoll is the largest collection of public opinion poll data with results from 1935 to the present. Roper iPoll contains nearly 800,000 questions and over 23,000 datasets from both U.S. and international polling firms. Surveys cover any number of topics including, social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, science, the environment, and much more. When available, results charts, demographic crosstabs and full datasets are provided for immediate download.
Use is restricted to current faculty and staff and currently-enrolled students of Davidson College only.
Social Explorer
Historical U.S. Census data (1790-2010) and demographic information from the annual updates of the American Community Survey and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (1980-2000). Also provides tools for creating maps and reports that allow you to visualize and analyze the data.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
(2013 to present) Important compendium of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Particularly useful as a guide to statistical data generated and published by U.S. Government agencies and non-governmental organizations.Published by ProQuest since 2013.
For data from 1789-2012, see the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract; click the "earlier editions" tab to access previous years.
The Census Bureau stopped publishing this work in 2012. ProQuest began publishing its own version in 2013.
USA Facts
Freely accessible data from 70 US government agencies, all collected in one place to provide a clear picture of how the federal and state government receive and spend funds. Currently in Beta (newer versions will likely allow users to download data). USA Facts is a non-partisan and non-for-profit project.