Library Research Guides: AMST/SOC 246: How Immigration is Changing the US and the World: Data and Statistics

Mapping Tools

Use Social Explorer to look at demographic information (e.g. census, economic, election data etc.) in a visually useful way.

State Stats offers easy-to-use social & demographic data for all 50 U.S. states for the past 15 years. Data can be mapped, graphed or exported to Excel.

Polling Data

Roper iPoll

A full-text primary source archive of public opinion, surveys, and data. It covers a wide variety of topics, including politics, the economy, education, the environment, labor, race, religion, and more.
Dates: 1935 CE-present.
Polling the Nations

Public opinion polls and surveys on current events around the world. Includes charts and survey questions.
Dates: 1986 CE to present

The Gallup Organization
Opinion polls & trends.

Government Resources

American Community Survey
Find statistics on education, income and benefits, health insurance, and more.
American FactFinder
Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic information. Will eventually be superseded by data.census.gov.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
To collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded.
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.
NCES-National Center for Education Statistics
This is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.
Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published from 1878 to 2011, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.

Other Statistical Resources

ICPSR: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

Archive of research in the social and behavioral sciences, with collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, social media, and other fields. Includes a bibliography of publications related to data.

GPO: U.S. Government Printing Office
The U.S Government Printing Office (GPO) provides publishing and dissemination services for the official and authentic government publications to Congress, Federal agencies, Federal depository libraries, and the American public.

Historical Statistics of the United States

Socioeconomic and demographic data from 1790-2000.
Dates: 1790-2000 CE

Citing Data

The general rule for citing data is to stick with the style for citing a journal article. Definitely include the creator, title, year of publication, publisher (usually the archive in which it is found), edition or version, and access information (e.g. a URL).

The idea is to give credit to the author or producer of the data, and give information to allow others to find the data you found.

Citing a map from Social Explorer? The database offers advice and examples on how to cite their maps.

Comparing Data

The Census and the ACS are two different surveys that have similar, and sometimes overlapping, questions and topics. It's important to keep in mind that different questions are asked in different years when comparing data across time. Check out the Census Bureau's FAQ Guide for comparing ACS data to Census data.