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Data & Statistics

Browse resources for finding statistics and datasets

Welcome!

“Finding the best data to address a research question requires that one understand the kinds of data that are likely to be available, who collects the data, and where they can be found.”
– Gary M. Klass, Just Plain Data Analysis, xiii

This guide will help you find the best databases, search tools, and other resources for finding statistics and other datasets related to various topics. 

Do I need Data or Statistics?

The terms “data” and “statistics” are often used interchangeably, but it is useful to distinguish between the two when conducting research.

Data are: (most times)

  • machine-readable, 
  • analyzed, 
  • plottable lists or collections of information
  • able to be manipulated and analyzed directly, offering flexible analysis 

Statistics are: (most times)

  • tables, charts, graphs, reported numbers and percentages
  • results of data analysis, giving the context of analysis and researcher interpretation

Do you need …

  1. A quick number or analysis and/or summary? You may not need data but summary statistics.
  2. Data to analyze, answering questions like “how many,” “how much,” and so forth? Data is what you need

Take this usefuQuiz from ICPSR to help determine which you need 

Source: ICPSR. “Understanding Data vs Summary Statistics.” ICPSR, University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, 2024, https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/instructors/fellow/understandingData.html. 

Examples

Data:

This table contains NYC eviction data. Each row records information for an individual eviction that occurred. This is “raw” data, which has not been summarized or analyzed. From this raw data, we could perform analysis to calculate statistics to answer research questions. For example, we may be curious about: which month or year had the highest number of evictions? Which Marshall had the highest number of evictions associated with them? etc. 

Source: Department of Investigation. (2024). City Government Evictions. [Dataset]. NYC Open Data. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/Evictions/6z8x-wfk4/about_data

Statistics:

 

This table presents summary statistics (in this case, percentages), which capture state-level data of the percentage of births to Teenage Mothers, Unmarried Women, and births with low birth weight. In this case, the percentages were calculated from data that was likely raw counts by state. 

Source: National Center for Health Statistics (2025). Percent Of Births To Teenage Mothers, Unmarried Women, And Births With Low Birth Weight By State: 2020 And 2022 ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the U.S. 2025 Online Edition. Retrieved from 
https://statabs.proquest.com/sa/docview.html?table-no=88&acc-no=C7095-1.2&year=2025&z=AC8C1D2433E14C7F74F3534F26B305CE2D8FA70F&accountid=12447

Questions to Ask Yourself

The following questions will determine where you need to look and whether the data is available:

  • What level of observation/analysis do you need? (e.g. individuals, communities, states, countries...)

  • What time period? (most recent? 5 years? historical time series?..)

  • What frequency? (annual, quarterly, monthly, ...)

Tips for Finding Statistics

Not finding what you need in this guide? Try these strategies as well:

  • Check the data sources used by books or articles on your topic (in the bibliography or table caption).
  • Think of which organizations are likely to produce the data and check the web sites of those sources.
  • Try a specialized data search engine such as Zanran (web search engine for finding data and statistics in graphs, tables, & reports).
  • Ask a librarian.  They are familiar with a variety of general and specialized sources.

Search Engines for Data & Statistics

Not Sure Where to Start? Macrodata Sources

Not Sure Where to Start? Microdata Sources