Political Science — Statistics, Numeric Databases, Demography

See also: For additional surveys, for sets of other types of data, and for assistance on working with data, visit Social Science Data Services (SSDS) in the Main Library.

For additional economic or financial statistics, see Economics & Finance as well as IPE on the Research Guide to Political Science.

Major Sets of Statistics & Data
Economics, Finance & Development
Elections
Labor
Law & Criminal Justice
Polling Statistics
Population & Demographics
Security Studies
The Study of Statistics, Online

Major Sets of Statistics & Data

Country Profiles (BBC) "Instant guide" to statistics, history, news, politics, chronology of key events, leaders, media, and economics of countries of the world.
Country, Religion, Topical Statistics -- OFFSTATS Quick and convenient, provides official statistics from agencies such as as UNICEF, World Bank, local ministries per country and other variables.
Europa World: The Europa World Year Book online Political and economic information for over 250 countries.
ICPSR, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research Use with statistical software such as SPSS or SAS. "ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction." For help, consult with Social Science Data Services.
Index to ICPSR Data Sets This University of Michigan site helps researchers to find surveys and polls on particular subjects by providing an electronic index to the data sets.
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences Citations from an international selection of publications, including over 2600 journals, in all areas of the social sciences with emphasis on economics, political science, sociology and anthropology.
LexisNexis Statistical (formerly Statistical Universe) Statistical information from governmental and privately-published sources, including the American Statistics Index (ASI) and Statistical Reference Index (SRI).
Nations of the World A-Z list of all countries in the world and their official languages. Click on the country name to link to "One World - Nations Online" which provides news links, maps, statistics, current topics, and more on languages of every country of the world.
PAIS International Bibliographic index to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general. Journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental, and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world are indexed. This database covers 1972 to the present. Go to PAIS International Archive for coverage from 1937-1976. (The archive will eventually cover 1915 through 1976.)
Political Handbook of the World A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . Political and government information on all countries.
Social Science Data Services—NU Library "Acquires and maintains an extensive collection of numeric computer data files used for secondary analysis in the social sciences."
SPSS Statistical software is available on the Library's Information Commons workstations and within the Library's Government and Geographic Information and Data Services department. The latter also hosts SAS, GIS, and other software packages.
Statistical Data Locators A comprehensive set of links to statistics on the web.
Statistical Resources on the Web - Numerous free statistical resources. Some proprietary databases restricted to UMICH community.
United Nations Common Database (UNCDB) Access to over 300 data series on economic, social, health, environmental, and other variables for all available countries. Some time-series start with 1945. Data sources include IMF, World Bank, UN, and about 30 specialized international agencies.
U.S. Federal Government Statistics- Fedstats Gateway to statistics of over 100 federal agencies. Search by topic or agency (e.g., abortion or the Center for Disease Control; air pollution or the Environmental Protection Agency).
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Citations with abstracts from more than 1100 journals in political science and related disciplines. Coverage is international in scope.
World Almanac Online version of the World Almanac and Book of Facts.
World Factbook (CIA) Extensive information on all countries.

Economics, Finance & Development

Balance of Payments Statistics (See also "International Monetary Fund" for related databases.) Statistical database of time series data, also available in print. This is a CD-ROM product located in Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department in the Library.
China Data Online / Zhongguo Shu Ju Zai Xian Emphasis is on economic statistics, macroeconomic development, financial indicators of hundreds of industries, the population and economy at the provincial, county, and city levels, marketing surveys, statistical yearbooks, and more.
Direction of Trade Statistics (See also "International Monetary Fund" for related databases.) Accompanied by Direction of trade statistics historical, 1948-1980. This is a CD-ROM product located in Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department in the Library.
Economic Research, FRED Easy to use time-series database with statistics on banking, Consumer Price Index, employment and population, trade and international transactions, and more from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Economist Intelligence Unit on the Internet Data on 150 countries, from about 1980 to present. Includes commerce, finance and news updates as well as other country information.
Foreign Trade Statistics Imports and exports of the United States. This web site is supplemented by the CD-ROM USA Trade, which is available in Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department and provides access to monthly and annual statistics of foreign trade.
Global Development Finance World Bank statistics on the external debt and financial flows of developing nations (The ICA client is required to run this database) This database is temporarily unavailable due to hardware failure. A print copy of this publication is available in the Library's Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department.
Government Finance Statistics (See also "International Monetary Fund" for related databases.) Contains the economic time series appearing in the Government finance statistics yearbook (GFSY) publication. Includes data observations expressed in scientific notation. This is a CD-ROM product located in Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department in the Library.
International Financial Statistics (See also "International Monetary Fund" for related databases.) IFS disks provide users with time series which summarize each country's balance of payments, with collateral data on its principal components (trade and reserves), and data on the principal cause and effect elements (monetary expansion and contraction, government surpluses and deficits, production, prices, and interest rates). This is a CD-ROM product located in Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department in the Library.
ISI Emerging Markets Information about the conditions in developing countries of Latin America, Asia and Europe. Includes industry and analyst reports, macroeconomic statistics and forecasts, legal and regulatory information, and opinion polls from: the Baltic States (including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic (including Slovakia), Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia (including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), Turkey, Ukraine, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, China, India, South Korea and Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand).
SourceOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Full-text of periodicals and statistics. See also OECD Index .
STAT-USA/Internet Commerce Department Internet service on a broad range of subjects in trade, business, and economics. The NU Library has access to this service through the Federal Depository Library Program.
World Development Indicators Includes 695 series for 229 countries, with range of social, economic, poverty, environmental and other data. Fairly unique in providing some data on military topics. Time span generally begins with 1960.
World Economic Outlook (WEO) Database This site provides the most frequently requested statistics from the International Monetary Fund's biannual World Economic Outlook.

Elections

Elections & Voting Statistics Data for both U.S. and foreign elections.
Vital Statistics on American Politics A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . Over 200 data tables and statistics on politics dating back to 1788. Organized by topics such as elections, campaign finance, parties, the military, the media, and foreign policy.

Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics
KILM Key Indicators of the Labour Market International Labour Organization's 18 indicators of employment. KILM may be used to examine trends in participation in the world of work. This web site provides information about KILM and how to use the data, which is available on CD-ROM in the Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department.
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey Data from monthly household survey "provides a comprehensive body of information on the employment and unemployment experience of the Nation's population, classified by age, sex, race, and a variety of other characteristics."

Law & Criminal Justice

Bureau of Justice Statistics
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data Includes full text documents and reports.
United Nations/Justice/Statistics Collection Free international statistical resource. Some full text reports available.

Polling Statistics

Worldwide Polling Statistics –Political Science Research Covers (1) foreign and multinational polls, (2) major domestic media polls, (3) public opinion in the U.S., (4) public opinion studies in scholarly journals, and (5) survey research teaching and learning tools.

Population & Demographics

A-Z of Countries of the World Oxford reference work
CenStats Statistics, demographic information and other data from several Census Bureau databases.
China Census Data 1 - Zhongguo wu ci xian ji ren kou pu cha shu ju Historical county population census data with maps (GIS software) for 1953, 1964, 1982, 1990, and 2000. In Chinese and English. To use, go to the Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department of the Library.
China Census Data 2 - 2000 China county population census data with county maps For the year 2000 (more detailed than the above). In Chinese and English. To use, go to the Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department of the Library.
Country Profiles (BBC) "Instant guide" to statistics, history, news, politics, chronology of key events, leaders, media, and economics of countries of the world.
County & City Data Book (1988 and 1994 editions) Downloadable census figures for U.S. counties and major cities.
County & City Data Book (2000 edition) Census figures for U.S. counties and major cities. PDF version of the 2000 printed edition.
Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Times to the Present Historical data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Popline More than 300,000 citations with abstracts to articles, books and reports on population, family planning, demography, and related health issues.
Population Database Calculate and display past (back to 1950) and future (up to 2050) population statistics for all major regions of the world, the entire planet, and many specific countries. United Nations database. See, too, the homepage of the Population Division of the UN.
Population Index An annotated bibliography of recently published books, journal articles, working papers, and other materials on population topics. Note the two links: one to a searchable database, the other to digitized images (which will include tables and charts).
Population Reference Bureau DataFinder Contains data on hundreds of demographic variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions, the world as a whole, the United States as a whole, and the US states. Display data as rankings, maps, or bar graphs.
State and County QuickFacts (U.S. Census Bureau) Very easy interface to extensive census information on the nation, states, counties, and large cities levels. Population statistics (e.g., children under poverty, college graduates), Business facts (e.g., retail sales) and geographical details (e.g., land area). Also contains some over-time comparison statistics.
Statistical Abstract of the United States

Security Studies

Military Personnel Statistics "Provides statistical information on active duty U.S. military personnel strengths by service for the current month, current year, and back to 1993, and by region area and country for 1950 and 1953 through the most recent data. Also includes service totals by rank and grade for 1994 to the present as well as women only reports for 1994 through 2001, and selected historical medical care reports for 1978 through 1996. From the U.S. Department of Defense." (LII)
First: Facts on International Relations and Security Trends Joint project of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and International Relations and Security Network (ISN). A federated systems of multiple databases and documents prepared by over 15 centers, agencies, and programs. Includes data on states and international organizations, statistics, chronologies, and facts on topics such as conflicts, arms transfers and military expenditure.

The Study of Statistics, Online

ebrary This is a full text database of e-books, including many on or about statistics. To access from your office or residence hall: Click on "Get ebrary Reader." You need do this only once (i.e., you do not have to do it again next time you use ebrary).
MathSciNet (Indexes to Articles) Citations to articles, conference papers, books, and technical reports in various topics including statistics.
Dictionary of Statistics
Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics , 3 volumes, 2007.
Statistical Literacy Provides a series of effective, easily understood learning modules such as "Describing, clarifying and presenting data."
Statistical Understanding Made Simple University of Glasgow. Provides option to create a tutorial (for instructors) or use "Ready Made Tutorials." Explains types of statistics and graphs, and contains games that can be used to explore the effects of standard deviations and related concepts.

For further information, contact:

Lucy E. Lyons
Collection Analysis, Journalism, and Political Science
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-2229, fax 467-7899
l-lyons@northwestern.edu
Office Location: Room 2623, 2nd Floor, East Tower, Main Library

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Last updated: 06/16/08