Library Research Guides: POL1 328: Immigration Politics and Policy: Find Data & Statistics

Data & Statistics Sources

Statista
International statistical data, reports, market insights, tables, and charts.
Sage Data
Data and statistics from many geographic areas around the world on a variety of topics including demographics, finance, criminal justice, education, energy, and more. You can create and download your own charts and graphs, and download data in a variety of formats.
Historical Statistics of the United States
Socioeconomic and demographic data from 1790-2000.
Dates: 1790-2000 CE
Social Explorer
Interactive maps exploring U.S. census, socioeconomic, and demographic data over time and across different, neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, and other geographies.
Dates: 1790 CE-present

Data.census.gov
The newest website from the U.S. Census Bureau containing demographic and socioeconomic data.
Data.gov
The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.

Here are some criteria to keep in mind when choosing and using data:

Accuracy - Who is included in this data? Who is excluded from this data? What is the purpose of the dataset and why was it produced?
Authority - Who collected this data? Who published the dataset or compiled the statistics? Is the author/publisher credible? What are the author/publisher's credentials (educational background, past writing, experience) in this area? Have you seen the author's name cited in other sources or bibliographies? Is the publisher scholarly (university press, scholarly associations)? Commercial? Government agency? Is the source self-published (“vanity”press)?
Objectivity - Does the author have a bias, political or commercial or persuasive? How have they used the data? What conclusions have they drawn? Who is included in this dataset, and why? Who is excluded in this dataset, and why?
Currency - Is this information new or based on outdated sources? Can you tell how current it is?
Audience - Who is the information written for: a specific readership, level of expertise, or age/grade level? Is the audience focus appropriate for a research paper?

Unsure about a dataset? Ask me!