Research Guides: Political Science Graduate Student Orientation: Fall 2023: Social and Demographic Data

Social and Demographic Data

ICPSR: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
Social science data for research and instruction along with access to special topic archives sponsored by agencies outside ICPSR, including the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data & the International Archive of Education Data.
Access Note: For off-campus access to the ICPSR archives, please login: http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://www.icpsr.umich.edu. Vendor Tutorials: Videos on finding and using data from ICPSR are available at https://www.youtube.com/@icpsr.

Census Reporter
Knight News Challenge-funded project to make it easy for journalists and researchers to find and use basic US Census data.
data.census.gov
Official and authoritative Census Bureau website for locating and gathering US census data, including data from the 2010 and 2020 decennial censuses and American Community Survey Data.

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Current and historical census data and demographic information: US Census, American Community Survey, religious membership, carbon emissions data, etc. Customizable maps, charts, and reports.
User Limit: 3.
DemographicsNow This link opens in a new window
Geographically customized demographic data reports and maps. Identify patterns and trends regarding household expenditures, market penetration and location of goods and services.
All current Vanderbilt University students, faculty, and staff have access to this resource, both on and off-campus.
ProQuest Statistical Insight This link opens in a new window
Federal, state, and international statistical, economic, demographic, and geographic information. National income and production statistics, retail and wholesale trade data, interest rates, economic indicators, and social and demographic statistics, plus data on energy, environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries, crime, etc.
Coverage: From the U.S. government, 1973 to present; from international intergovernmental, 1983 to present.

Census and Other Federal Data Resources

American FactFinder
American FactFinder is the Census Bureau's online, self-service tool designed to search a variety of population, economic, geographic and housing information.
Data.gov
A one-stop federal government portal for searching all kinds of data and datasets. Data.gov is managed and hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. Data.gov is primarily a federal open government data site. However, state, local, and tribal governments are also allowed to syndicate metadata describing their open data resources on Data.gov for greater discoverability
2010 Census Tract Reference Map for Davidson County, TN
2011 Language Mapper
From the 2007-2011 ACS. Languages mapped include Spanish, French, French Creole, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Arabic. One dot represents approximately 50 people.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis
"BEA's national economic program provides a quantitative view of US domestic production, consumption, and investment, of exports and imports, and of national and domestic income and saving. It features the estimates of GDP, which is one of the most closely watched of all economic statistics. Each month, BEA releases updated estimates of GDP for the previous quarter and new estimates of personal income and outlays for the previous month. Estimates of the Nation's stock of fixed assets and consumer durable goods are prepared and published annually." Also provides regional, industry, and international accounts data.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Provides updated data on inflation and prices, producer prices, consumer prices, employment and unemployment, pay and benefits, productivity, workplace injuries, etc.