LibGuides: Political Science: Data Sources

CT Data

CT Open Data
The site features CT-specific data in several categories, including: Business, Government, Education, Public Safety, Transportation, Health, Environment, Housing and Development. The data is collected by executive branch agencies.
CT Data Collaborative
CT Data Collaborative democratizes access to public data and builds data literacy. The Data Resources page of this site contains geospatial and other data local to Connecticut.
CT Data Haven
DataHaven provides community information in the form of reports, maps, raw datasets, and external resources, including profiles on specific towns or neighborhoods. Find data related to community being, economy, health, education, health, public safety, and civic vitality.
Connecticut Education Data
Offers access to data on education in Connecticut at districts and individual school level. Included is data related to enrollment, discipline, attendance, special education, school staffing and salaries, teacher qualifications, school resources, and student performance.
Open Data Hartford
Financial, health, public safety, community, education, youth/family, housing and development, and public health data for the city of Hartford.

Public Opinion Data

Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.

General Social Survey (GSS)
Provides a clear and unbiased perspective on what Americans think and feel about such issues as national spending priorities, crime and punishment, intergroup relations, and confidence in institutions. Covers 1972 to present.
Quinnipiac University Poll
Conducts frequent public opinion surveys in CT, NY, NYC, NJ, OH and PA on national political and public policy issues. An increasingly cited source for polling data and may be particularly useful for students looking for polls taken on issues related to Connecticut. 1997 - current.
Roper iPOLL
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.

National Data from Governmental Agencies

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Offers graphical and tabular data about U.S. gross domestic product, personal income and outlays, corporate profits, fixed assets, income, balance of payments, investment, and annual industry data, as well as state and local numbers, and foreign trade.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
From the U.S. Department of Labor the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has ready-made tables or custom tables with data on wages, unions, employment, prices, base on demographic data, data by industry, occupation, business costs and geography, as well as data from National Longitudinal Surveys.
Data.Census.Gov
Data.Census.Gov, is the interface that replaces American FactFinder, This is the new portal to U.S. Census data and includes data from the American Community Survey, Population Estimates, Economic Census, and Annual Economic Surveys. Users can generate simple visualizations, extract reports, and explore census data by theme or topic.
Dept of Homeland Security: Immigration Statistics
Offers a range of data about immigrants, refugees, asylees, permanent residents, naturalizations, temporary admissions, often organized by age, country of citizenship, and port of entry. Offers a range of data about immigrants, refugees, asylees, permanent residents, naturalizations, temporary admissions, often organized by age, country of citizenship, and port of entry.
Dept of Justice: Crime & Justice Online Data
Published by the U.S. Department of Justice, offers data on crime trends with demographic breakdowns (age, race, gender, and state) from 1960 to present.
FEC: Campaign Finance Data
Offers data related on campaign finance: the contributors, candidates, committees and summary data.
HUD: State of the Cities Data System
Offers data on metropolitan areas, central cities, and suburbs. Data are from the Census of Population and Housing and FBI crime data. The only dataset still being regularly updated on this site is the Building Permits Database.

American Politics & Election Data

Almanac of American Politics
From the National Journal, this Almanac provides in-depth analysis, statistical data and comprehensive profiles of every congressional district, state, governor, as well as members of Congress, the White House, Cabinet and Federal Executive Agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Election Commission.
American Presidency Project
Published collections of presidential sources, such as speeches, executive orders, appearances, statistical data and mapping etc. Except for recent presidents, these collections omitted many documents such as proclamations, vetoes and orders. Prior to 1945, the number of documents in the collection in any specific category may be smaller than the total in existence.
CQ Voting and Elections
Integrates a wealth of data, authoritative analyses, concise explanations, and historical material to provide a powerful research and reference tool on the American voter, major and minor political parties, campaigns and elections, and historical and modern races for Congress, the presidency, and governorships.The Collection supports course work in campaigns and elections, Congress, the presidency, and scholarly research in political science and American history.
FEC: Campaign Finance Data
Offers data related on campaign finance: the contributors, candidates, committees and summary data.

Open Secrets
This nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit website run by the Center for Responsive Politics tracks how much and where candidates get their money.

TRACFED
Data and statistical information about the federal government.

US Historic Election Returns
Since 1920, the Clerk of the House has collected and published the official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories.

Vital Statistics on American Politics 2011-2012
Data offering more than 230 tables and charts covering the full spectrum of American politics dating back to 1788. Introductory material helps readers understand and interpret statistical material, and the annotated reference guide directs users to other valuable sources on political statistics.
Vital Statistics on American Politics 2015-2016
Updated with the most recent information available. The editors consult hundreds of sources to calculate and locate the data, facts, and figures that offer a vivid and multifaceted portrait of the broad spectrum of United States politics and policies.

General & International Data Sources

ICPSR
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. Users must register to download data.
OECD data
Find research documents and statistics published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international organization that supports democracy and a market economy. Offers standard international data (GDP, etc.), as well as more unique data series (biotechnology, broadband infiltration, etc.).
Offers standard international data (GDP, etc.), as well as more unique data series (biotechnology, broadband infiltration, etc.).
PolicyMap
An online U.S. national data and mapping tool and analytics platform with multidisciplinary applications. It is used in research related to social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration, public health, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, and geography, among others. Users can leverage thousands of U.S. data indicators in PolicyMap to perform demographic and socioeconomic analysis, from a neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level, as well as create custom regions, for their research and studies.
Sage Data
Repository of standardized and structured statistical data from Sage. Trinity subscribes to the Basic module, EASI Market Planner, and the China Data Center (Subnational Data).
Social Explorer
An online resource for demographic data on the United States. Information can be generated in either reports or maps. Coverage begins with the 1790 Census and continues through the recent American Community Surveys. Create an individual account (required) in order to use all the database features.
UNESCO
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, publishes numerous reports, newsletters and other documents on education, natural and social sciences, culture, communication and information. For data, see UNESCO Institute for Statistics: http://www.uis.unesco.org/
UN Human Development Reports
Compare data across countries on data concerning poverty, health, access to water, HIV, education, telecommunications, etc.
World Bank: Open Data
Offers time-series data for 226 countries on topics ranging from GDP, education, population to water pollution, trade, taxes, income and foreign direct investment.

More Data Sources

Still not finding what you're looking for? Check out the sources listed below for additional data and statistical resources!

Data & Statistics Databases
Our complete list of the data & statistics databases you have access to as a Trinity student.
Finding and Using Data
Research guide created by Trinity librarians on finding and using data resources. There are even sections dedicated to Immigration, International, and Public Opinion data, perfect for your research!