Professor & Reference/Instruction Librarian
Diane Duesterhoeft
she/her
Contact:
Louis J. Blume Library, Room 201
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228-8608
USA
dduesterhoeft@stmarytx.edu
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228-8608
USA
dduesterhoeft@stmarytx.edu
210-436-3346
Data Sets
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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.
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Census Data: Data.Census.GovPortal to Census data from 2000 to the present. It replaces American FactFinder.
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Correlates of WarThis 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."
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Data.govProvides public access to datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. View datasets by agency, or search by keyword or category.
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Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Data SetsAccess 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.
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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.
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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.
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Nation MasterA 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.
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UNdata: Advanced SearchAdvanced search to the UNdata portal that allow users to search by keyword, select statistical areas, sources, and years.
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World Bank DataThe 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
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Statistical Abstract of the United StatesThe authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Census Bureau. 1879-2010.
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Government DatabasesProvides links to US government sites with statistics and data pertaining to demographics, economics, education, health, international affairs, government, science & technology, and social sciences.
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IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) Voter TurnoutThe 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.
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Open SecretsDeveloped by the Center for Responsive Politics, the site tracks the influence of money on US politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives.
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Follow the Money - National Institute on Money in State PoliticsWeb site and database provided by a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that reveals the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states.
Ongoing Research Projects
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The Sentencing ProjectA national organization working for a fair and effective criminal justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing law and practice, and alternatives to incarceration. Founded in 1986 to to provide defense lawyers with sentencing advocacy training and to reduce the reliance on incarceration.
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The American Presidency ProjectThe project was established in 1999 as a collaboration between John Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The archives contain 90,144 documents, including the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.
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Pew Research CenterA 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