Gateways/Directories/Research Guides
General Considerations for Finding Statistics
1. Explore the web sites of specific government/private agencies based on your topic, e.g. U.S. Department of Labor.
2. Explore research articles on your topic and identify the datasets that are commonly used.
3. When searching the Internet using Google.com, includes site:.gov or site:.edu in your search phrase (to limit your results to governmental or educational web sites, respectively).
1. Explore the web sites of specific government/private agencies based on your topic, e.g. U.S. Department of Labor.
2. Explore research articles on your topic and identify the datasets that are commonly used.
3. When searching the Internet using Google.com, includes site:.gov or site:.edu in your search phrase (to limit your results to governmental or educational web sites, respectively).
- Search Google Advanced Search for more search options.
- Use the new Google Dataset Search to find datasets hosted by repositories across the Web. Using a simple keyword search, users can discover datasets hosted in thousands of repositories across the Web
- 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." Click the Data tab to conduct a keyword search of datasets. Narrow your search or browse by filters on the left.
- Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM)"The Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) is an interagency committee dedicated to improving the quality of Federal statistics. The FCSM was created by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to inform and advise OMB and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) on methodological and statistical issues that affect the quality of Federal data."
- List of Foreign and International Governmental Statistical Agencies“Provides access to statistical websites from foreign and international government organizations.” Foreign language sites here provide an option to translate into English; look for small print along the top of the page. Maintained by Purdue University.
- Data Sets for Quantitative Research: Public Use DatasetsUniversity of Missouri Libraries
- Guide to International and US Statistics SourcesCornell University Library
- Links to Data Sets and RepositoriesAmerican Psychological Association
Data and Statistical Resources
United States
See also the Country Information Guide for International Statistics
- Bureau of Economic AnalysisExplore Economic Accounts by Type for national, international, regional, and industry data. Presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- Bureau of Transportation StatisticsThe purpose of the BTS is "to administer data collection, analysis, and reporting and to ensure the most cost-effective use of transportation-monitoring resources."
- 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." Click the Data tab to conduct a keyword search of datasets. Narrow your search or browse by filters on the left.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisSelect Research & Data from the top menu and, then, select FRED [Federal Reserve Economic Data] Economic Data, which "is an online database consisting of more than 237,000 economic data time series from national, international, public, and private sources."
- Federal ReservesClick on the Economic Research and Data tabs for data releases, working papers, and other research resources.
- National Historical Geographic Information System"[P]rovides population, housing, agricultural, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files, for geographic units in the United States from 1790 to the present."