Almanacs
Chambers Book of Facts.
AG106 .C48 2007
Infoplease.com. http://www.infoplease.com
World Almanac and Book of Facts.
AY67 .N5 W7
Population & Housing
U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov
American FactFinder The new Census tool: source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data, from community Fact Sheets to detailed Data Sets.
Population Research Center at Portland State University. http://www.pdx.edu/prc/ Includes the Oregon State Data Center, with detailed population estimates and projections for the state.
Finding facts & figures about social issues
Child Trends Databank. http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/
National trends and research on over 80 key indicators of child and youth well-being.
NCES: National Center for Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/
Data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. Includes Digest of Educational Statistics.
NCHS: National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs
Monitoring the nation's health; includes Health United States, showing national trends in health and health care.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/
Brings together data from more than 100 sources about many aspects of criminal justice in the United States.
A Statistical Portrait Of The United States. Social Conditions And Trends.
HA214 .S73 2002
GSS: General Social Survey. http://www.norc.org/GSS+Website/
A standard "core" of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions. Many questions have remained unchanged since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies. A unique and valuable resource, GSS has tracked the opinions of Americans over the last four decades. (Some facility with data files is recommended, although pre-generated tables are available.)
American FactFinder2. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
Population, housing, economic, and geographical information from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000-. Not always easy to use, but very powerful and up-to-date.
Facts and Statistics
With statistical information, it is very important to consider where your numbers are coming from. To make a convincing argument, you want to be able to point to statistics from sources your audience will recognize and trust. Here are some good places to start for statistics about the United States.
- American Fact Finder US Census--population, housing, economic, and geographic data
- NCHS National Center for Health Statistics
- NCES National Center for Education Statistics
- Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (Bureau of Justice)
Here are some additional resources for international statistics:
- World Health Organization statistical information system
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics
- United Nations Statistics Division
The STAT-USA database, which provided the business community with one place to go to access an extensive collection of U.S. economic and finance data, international trade statistics, and market research reports for more than 25 years, has ceased operation. We have created a guide that captures the URLs of all the data pages from which STAT-USA pulled information. You can find it on the Library Guides page, or click here: http://tinyurl.com/3yhjchp.
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Social Trends and Indicators USA
This 4-volume set extends the successful "USA" statistical series by providing in-depth statistics on social issues paired with expert analyses. Statistical data is gathered from respected sources including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Social Security Administration; data is also gathered from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the stock exchanges.
Coverage Dates: 2003 - present
Public Opinion
Gallup Organization. http://www.gallup.com/
Public opinion polls, which provide "measurement and analysis of people's attitudes, opinions, and behavior." Includes a full-text poll archive on various topics.
Gallup Brain (database). Answers to hundreds of thousands of questions, and responses from millions of people interviewed by The Gallup Poll from 1935-2007
Polling Report. http://www.pollingreport.com/
Survey of trends affecting elections, government, and business. Includes Gallup, Harris, Yankelovich, Princeton Survey Research Associates, network news polls, and more. Main categories are Politics and Policy; Business / Economy; American Scene; Insights; and National Barometer; with an extensive table of contents. Searchable.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science datasets, including public opinion polls, for research and instruction.
See Political Science Subject Research Guide for more.
Finding facts & figures about government & the economy
U.S. Dept of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/
U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/
for more information about government statistics resources, see the Government Information Guide
Slideshow
slideshow "Locating Statistics in Health, Education, and Criminal Justice" created for a Documents Interest Group of Oregon (DIGOR) workshop presented November 21, 2008 at George Fox University in Portland, OR. Edited for general use.
