Data and Statistics Sources

Strategies for Finding Data

What type of data do you need?

Who or What? - think about who or what are you measuring and what would be meaningful 

This could be:

• people (e.g.- individuals, couples, households, particular social groups)
• organizations and institutions (e.g.- companies, political parties, nation states)
• commodities and things (e.g.- crops, automobiles, arrests)

Where?- geography or place that you are studying

Two types of geographic classifications:

• political boundaries (e.g.- nation, state, county, school district)
• statistical/census geography (e.g.- statistical areas, tracts, blocks)

When?- what length of time do you need the data to cover? (e.g. six months, a year, ten years, etc)

Who is likely to collect the data?

Once you know what you are looking for, think about who might track or compile that information. Who has a stake in it and who is the audience for that data?

Find where the data is located

Using your answers to the above question, start looking for the data. 

Caution: Data isn't always readily available. Be prepared to think creatively and potentially try alternative data.

If it is collected by a government agency, it will often be found on that organization's website. Some might be aggregated by larger agencies or departments.

Company information and financials can often be found on their company websites, as well as in the Library Databases.