Research Guides: Public Policy: Data and Statistics

Librarian for Public Policy & Urban Planning

Michelle Brasseur

Email Me

Contact:

Young Research Library, Level A

310-825-1639

Subjects:Public Affairs

Quick Data and Statistics

U.S. Data and Statistics
Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
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Comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States, from 2013 to the present. Volumes covering 1879-2012 are on the US Census site.
Statistical Abstracts, stat abs

Data-Planet Statistical Datasets
Restricted to UC. Data-Planet is a repository of publicly, privately, and commercially sourced statistical time-series data.
Explore Census Data (formerly American FactFinder)
This is a new platform for accessing U.S. census data. American FactFinder moved to this new platform on March 31, 2020.
Data.gov
California Statistical Abstract
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
IPUMS is one of the all-time great sites for serious demographic and historical research using the U.S. Census microdata.

RAND State Statistics
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More than 200 social sciences databases covering all 50 U.S. states, on topics such as public policy, education, with an emphasis on statistics.
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
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Restricted to UCLA

quantitative research; codebooks; social science data archives

UN Data
OFFSTATS Official Statistics on the Web
World Development Indicators
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Restricted to UCLA

OECD iLibrary
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Online library of e-books, e-periodicals, and interactive statistical databases produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Source OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Source OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Public Opinion Polls

Roper Center Public Opinion Archives (with iPOLL)
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The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is one of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. On the Roper iPOLL page, you can search with keywords or filter by country, organization, etc.

Gallup.com
UCLA does not subscribe to these polls. We do get most of the content for national polls via the Roper iPoll database. We do have print copies of the Gallup Polls in the Library's Collection, Reference Reading Room, Call Number: HN90.P8 G35
Eurobarometer
AfroBarometer
LatinoBarometro

Working with Numbers

When working with statistics, aggregate data, and microdata, it is important for you to consider the following:

Context - what is the hypothesis, e.g. "middle income people are more likely to register and vote than lower income".
Geography - the US, county, city, neighborhood, congressional district
Time Period - current, historical, over time,
Population/Units of Analysis - age, sex, race, ancestry, educational attainment/households, individuals
Variables - observations or item of data for each unit of anlaysis; responses to questionnaire and how they are organized
Questionnaire - what questions were asked; shows what will and won't be available in the data
Source of the Data - is it publicly available from a government source or collected and produced by a company for profit?

Not sure what these and other statistical terms are? Check out the Glossary of Selected Computing and Social Science Data Terms (Jim A. Jacobs)

UCLA Campus Support

There are several departments and programs on campus available to assist you with data access and analysis:

UCLA Library Research Guide for Social Statistics and Data
Access to statistics and data collected by the UCLA Library as well as subject specialists available to assist you.
UCLA Data Archive's Tutorials
provides excellent information about working with social science data, citing data sources, how to read codebooks, etc.
UCLA Statistical Consulting
Offer drop-in and schedule appointments to undergraduate, graduate, even community users, to assist you with all your data collection and analysis needs
ATS Statistical Computing
Great resource for tutorials, online statistical publications, and a wide range of online support for major stat packages like STATA, SPSS, GRASS, R. They also provide stat consulting for graduate students only.

Guides and Handouts

Working with Data and Statistics

This handout is designed to help you understand various approaches to locating data and statistics.

CLICC Software Shortcut

Access a variety of applications from ANY computer without having to install anything. All you need is a valid UCLA logon, and to be connected to the UCLA network. From off-campus, login to the VPN first; if you're on campus you are already connected.

The mission of the UCLA Library is to provide access to and delivery of information resources to UCLA students, faculty, and staff in support of the research and instructional mission of the university. Relying on its highly skilled staff, the Library encourages innovation, capitalizes on appropriate technologies, forges effective partnerships and aggressively promotes excellence.

Public Policy