LibGuides: Sociology: Finding Data

Exploring US Census Data

Census and Governmental Data

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) (1913 - Present) This link opens in a new window
Thousands of U.S. economic data time series available from over 80 sources.
IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series) This link opens in a new window
IPUMS provides micro data for census and survey data from around the word including the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), and Current Population Survey (CPS).

Data.gov
The Census Bureau is the federal government’s largest statistical agency. We are dedicated to providing current facts and figures about America’s people, places, and economy.

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Easy access to demographic information about the United States, from 1790 to present.

Social Data Sources

Cross National Time Series Data Archive This link opens in a new window
CNTS Data Archive is a longitudinal dataset of over 200 variables, some going back to 1815, covering over 200 countries. Initially a project to collect the data from the Statesman's Yearbook into a format suitable for quantitative analysis, CNTS continues to grow with new data. Variables cover such topics as government expenditure, trade, infrastructure and media, domestic conflict event data, elections, legislative process, numerous political measures and international status indicators.

DataCite Search
Federated search across interdisciplinary data repositories. DataCite gathers metadata for each DOI assigned to a research object.

Sage Data This link opens in a new window
Formerly known as Data Planet Statistical Datasets. Access to a wide variety of economic, social, political indicators, and other structured statistical data. Users can search and browse from over 75 authoritative government and private sources.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Ref HA202 .H57 2006
Updated and expanded edition provides essays on data sources, tables, and downloadable Excel files.
ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research) This link opens in a new window
Data archive for social scientists. Reed community members may download data and documentation.
Roper iPoll This link opens in a new window
Data archive of public opinion survey data.
Coverage Dates: 1930 - Present

Spatial Data & GIS

Taking a spatial perspective on your research may help you ask and answer new questions. Spatial data can be challenging to interpret if you have not worked with it before. For assistance with spatial analysis and mapping, visits Data@Reed.

Geolode
A catalog of open geodata websites around the world, maintained by geospatial librarians. Searchable and browseable by location, topic, and other tags.
MIT GeoWeb
Thousands of geospatial data layers available through a single interface. Data types include US census; elevation; transportation; hydrography; administrative boundaries; land use; demographics; topographic maps; satellite imagery; and aerial photography.
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An implementation of OpenGeoPortal - a partnership between several of the country's leading universities and a state agency. Partners include Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, MassGIS, Stanford and UC Berkeley.
National Historical GIS
The NHGIS provides aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2011. Site contains state and county aggregate data and boundary files, census tract aggregate data and boundary files, census data at all geographic summary levels, boundary files for metropolitan statistical areas, boundary files for all standard geographic summary levels, County Business Patterns data, etc.
Oregon Spatial Data Library
The Oregon Spatial Data Library provides public access to hundreds of spatial datasets. Data types include administrative boundaries; climate; coastal/marine; elevation; hydrography; land use; transportation; and utilities.

RLIS Discovery This link opens in a new window
RLIS (Regional Land Information System) provides regional spatial data from Metro, the regional governing body of Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Includes more than 100 GIS map layers. Some data layers are password protected, see Social Sciences Librarian or Data Services Librarian for access.

US Census TIGER Files
TIGER = Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing. TIGER products are spatial extracts from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER database, containing features such as roads, railroads, rivers, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas. The Census Bureau offers several file types and an online mapping application.