US Public Policy
What: Data
Back up your arguments
Supporting data can be persuasive. Here are sources of indicators on demographics, the economy, public opinion, elections, and alignments of members of Congress.
- See also the Duke Libraries Data Services site to search for datasets by keyword or browse by topic.
- Almanac of the 50 States: Basic Data Profiles with Comparative Tables
Information Publications. Latest Perkins Ref. Desk - State by state profiles, rankings on over 50 criteria in the back.
- American Statistics Index, Index to International Statistics and Statistical Reference Index.
- See LexisNexis Statistical
- County and City Data Book
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Irregular. Latest (1994) at Perkins Ref. Desk C3.134/2: z
1988, 1994, and 2000 via University of Virginia, latest edition (2000) via GPO Access. - Provides detailed data for counties and cities.
- CQ's State Fact Finder
Congressional Quarterly. Latest Perkins Ref. Desk - Comparative rankings of the states on over 260 criteria.
- Crime in the United States: uniform crime reports.
FBI. 1936 - present. Latest at Perkins Ref. Desk; earlier in Docs. Stacks J1.14/7: or electronic access from 1995 to present: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS3082 - Digest of Education Statistics
U.S. Dept. of Education. 1988 - present. Latest at Perkins Ref. Desk; earlier in Docs stacks ED1.326: - LexisNexis Statistical
Congressional Information Service. Coverage varies, 1973 - present. Go to Articles and Databases and enter the database name in the box under Find Database. - The place to go when you don't know which source to use.Consists of American Statistics Index, Index to International Statistics and Statistical Reference Index. Provides indexing and complete abstracting of statistics produced by various agencies. Some indexed documents are given in full text.
- ASI, IIS full-text available in microfiche in Documents; SRI is located in Reference. Pre-1989 print indexes are available in Ref.
- LINC (Log Into North Carolina)
- Ready-made tables or choose your own for historical data and projections, 1960s to 2020, covering the state, county, municipality, and local levels; subjects include census, law enforcement, environment, transportation, and others.
- National Election Studies
- This site from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research compiles data on voting, public opinion, and political participation since 1948. The datasets are not viewable but may be downloaded for free.
- North Carolina State Board of Elections
- Election results since 1992. Since 1998 includes vote counts by precinct and voter turnout. Also includes voter registration statistics and campaign finance reports.
- Regional Profiles of the Fifth District
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. 1969 - present. - Statistics by county, useful for background on the constituency and local government. The FRB's fifth district encompasses Maryland, Virginia, West Virgina, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and gives data for Washington DC.
- Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
- Access and download data from polls conducted by many leading survey organizations. Includes iPOLL (organized at the question level, with surveys from 1935 to the present), Public Opinion Matters, Election Data, and National Science Foundation surveys. View descriptive information about each study, and download the documentation and data files through RoperExpress (those that are in ASCII or SPSS portable formats). Some international coverage, including the Latin American DataBank.
- State and Metropolitan Area Data Book.
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Irregular. Perkins Ref. US C3.134/5: Latest held at reference desk. - Provides detailed data for metropolitan statistical areas and their component counties, and for states.
- State Profile. North Carolina.
Woods & Poole Economics. 1992 - present. Latest Perkins Ref., earlier Perkins - Statistical Abstract of the United States
U.S. Dept. of Commerce. 1879 - present. Latest at Perkins Ref. Desk; previous 3 years in Reference US, earlier Docs. Stacks C 3.134: - online: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/or through LexisNexis Statistical
- *Start here* for statistics. Provides comprehensive statistical information on all aspects of American life. Also very useful as a starting place for international statistics.
- TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse)
- From Syracuse University, this nonpartisan data-gathering organization tracks the activities of federal enforcement and regulatory agencies. The websites provide data on national and local levels from the IRS, FBI, INS, ATF, DEA, and Customs.
- Vital Statistics on American Politics
Congressional Quarterly. 1988 - present. Latest at Perkins Ref. Desk; earlier Perkins stacks - Historical and current data on elections, political parties, issues like the death penalty and abortion, interest groups, public opinion, social policy.
- Vital statistics on Congress
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. 1980-present. Latest Perkins Ref., earlier Perkins stacks - Covers historical and current characteristics of members, elections, campaign finance, committees, expenses, workload and voting alignments.
Last modified November 26, 2008 11:28:29 AM EST
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