Blume Library: International Relations Resources: Data, Statistics, Maps

Data Sets

Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) Formerly the American Religion Data Archive, ARDA strives to democratize access to the best data on religion. Includes American and international collections and features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers.
Correlates of War This project seeks to collect, disseminate, and foster the "use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations." The project commits to "standard scientific principles of replication, data reliability, documentation, review, and the transparency of data collection procedures." The project promotes "free public release of data sets to the research community," the release of data in a timely manner after data collection is completed, and provides "version numbers for data set and replication tracking, to provide appropriate dataset documentation, and to attempt to update, document, and distribute follow-on versions of datasets where possible."
Data.gov Provides public access to datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. View datasets by agency, or search by keyword or category.
European Union Open Data Portal The European Union Open Data Portal is the single point of access to a growing range of data from the institutions and other bodies of the European Union (EU). Data are free for you to use and reuse for commercial or non-commercial purposes
Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Data Sets Access original data sets, including the American Housing Survey, HUD median family income limits, as well as microdata from research initiatives on topics such as housing discrimination, the HUD-insured multifamily housing stock, and the public housing population.
Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR) Coordinates and integrates information produced by the Center for Systemic Peace. Includes Polity IV Project, Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800-2016 data. "The INSCR data resources cover all independent countries with a total population of 500,000 people in 2011 (166 countries in 2011). Most of the CSP data resources are considered living data resources, that is, they are updated and revised on an annual cycle and reexamined whenever new sources of information become available." Some data is embargoed for approximately 12 months.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences. It hosts 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. Supports and sponsors educational activities and research.
Nation Master A large central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. Includes a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, and OECD. A commercial site with an easy user interface that gets researchers quickly to informative data.
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Provides datasets on governance, armed conflict, geographical and resources, mapping arms data, and economic and sociodemographic data.
Political Terror Scale (PTS) Computed annually by Mark Gibney, Reed Wood and a group of volunteers well versed in human rights practices. "Terror" refers to state-sanctioned killings, torture, disappearances and political imprisonment.
World Bank Data The World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe, together with other datasets cited in the data catalog.

Statistics Sites

Eldis Country and Region Profiles
An online information service providing free access to relevant, up-to-date and diverse research on international development issues, policies, and practice.
Global Governance Watch (GGW)
Brings together commentaries and academic papers on economics, environment & health, human rights, and security, and monitors UN Treaties and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). A joint project of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.
Government Databases
Provides links to US government sites with statistics and data pertaining to demographics, economics, education, health, international affairs, government, science & technology, and social sciences.
International Affairs databases
Links to current and historical data compiled by Government Information librarian Kathy Amen.
IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) Voter Turnout
The most comprehensive global collection of political participation statistics available. The figures for national presidential and parliamentary elections since 1945 are presented country by country, using both the number of registered voters and voting age population as indicators. Also available are the most recent indicators of literacy and human development, as well as other data and material.
UN iLibrary
"The United Nations iLibrary (UN iLibrary) serves as the online gateway to books, periodicals, and statistical data published by the United Nations Secretariat and its funds and programs," wrote Donna B. Smith for ccAdvisor. Produced in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and using their OECD iLibrary platform, the UN digital collection contains more than 6,000 ebooks, 4,000 articles, and three databases from over 40 UN departments and agencies.
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Most items can be read online. Some are limited in the ability to download.

Map Resources

Worldmapper
A collection of nearly 700 world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.
Migration Policy Institute Datahub
Provides access to international and US migration data and maps.
Modern Language Assocation (MLA) Language Map
Uses data from the US Census 2000 to display the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and three groups of less commonly spoken languages in the United States.

Thank you to Jennifer Hanson at Primary Source for recommending many of the resources above.

Ongoing Research Projects

Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information and data on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Important projects include:
* The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
* Pew Internet & American Life Project
* Pew Hispanic Center
* Pew Global Attitudes Project
* Social & Demographic Trends

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