Clark Family Library: GWS: Finding Data

What is data?

Data is "information in digital form that can be transmitted or processed" ("data, noun, often attributive." Merriam Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/data. Accessed October 10, 2022.).

Data is a core building block of our digital information systems. It is also increasingly a commodity. It's important to think about how and why data you are using was collected, or how and why you are collecting data yourself. Below is a resource about how to think consciously and ethically about data collection.

Respectful Collection of Data

Select Data Resources

ICPSR This link opens in a new window
ICPSR, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, offers a large social science data archive. It acts as a global leader in data stewardship and providing rich data resource in many social science disciplines.
PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
Data and mapping application that provides access to over 60,000 indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages, health, jobs and more that enables creation of maps, tables, and reports.

Data.gov
If you don't know what agency to start with, use this government data portal.
Gender Equality Data and Statistics: The World Bank
This gender data portal is a one-stop shop for gender information, catering to a wide range of users and providing data from a variety of sources. Data at the country level are organized under six thematic headings, which are aligned to the themes identified by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics.
Google Public Data Explorer
Google's Public Data Explorer provides public data and forecasts from a range of international organizations and academic institutions including the World Bank, OECD, Eurostat and the University of Denver. These can be displayed as line graphs, bar graphs, cross sectional plots or on maps.
Health and Human Services Department - LGBT Data
This site provides link to data sets related to LGBT health.
Our World in Data
Our World in Data is a free global development website whose purpose is to collect, visualize, and share “research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems.” Affiliated with the University of Oxford, operated by the nonprofit organization Global Change Data Lab, and launched in 2014, the website is designed for a global audience, including scholars, journalists, policymakers, educators, and schoolchildren. The website reportedly sees more than 1 million visits per month and has been cited hundreds of times in research and the media.

Our World in Data contains more than 3,000 interactive charts and dozens of articles across 297 topics. Ten categories ranging from “Energy and Environment” to “Violence and War” enable visitors to drill down to topics such as “Homicides” and “Environmental impacts of food production.” Each topic features interactive charts with annotations and sources. Searchability is basic, limited to browsing by topic, filtering charts by title, or doing a keyword search across the entire website. Topic entries are lengthy and sometimes difficult to skim. Ability to filter information by region, country, and dates would help visitors find what they need more quickly. Visitors can download charts as PNG or SVG images and export datasets in spreadsheet-ready CSV format. Our World in Data’s spin-off site, Sustainable Development Goals Tracker, uses these data to track progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, set to be achieved by 2030.

Founder Max Roser’s stated aim is to use statistical data to combat doom-and-gloom media coverage that fosters cynicism and apathy among citizens. The worldview behind Our World in Data aligns with psychologist Steven Pinker’s hotly debated claims in The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011). Sure enough, the website repeatedly quotes Pinker and cites his work as a data source. While Our World in Data claims not to cherry-pick or omit data, visitors should recognize its bias in favor of a narrative of steady human progress.

Our World in Data makes it easier to access, share, and understand statistical data that reveal trends in global development. Visualizations are posted under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, allowing anyone to share and adapt the content freely. Biases are disclosed and sources cited. While the raw data are widely available elsewhere, the website’s broad coverage, open access, and countless charts and graphs make it exceptionally useful to researchers and citizens.—Michael Rodriguez, University of Connecticut ACRL Internet Review April 2020
Pennsylvania State Data Center
A repository for data relating to Pennsylvania hosted by Penn State.
Pew Research Center
This nonpartisan fact tank conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and more.
UNData
Provides 15 databases from different UN agencies covering agriculture, health, human development, communication technology, industry, population, refugees, trade and tourism.
UNICEF Data
Welcome to data.unicef.org. This website is a gateway to reliable and open data and analysis on the situation of children and women worldwide.
US Census Data
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, including data from censuses and surveys.
Western PA Regional Data Center
The Western PA Regional Data Center is a repository of open data created by and pertaining to the region.
WHO Global Health Observatory Data
WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for its 194 Member States. The aim of the GHO portal is to provide easy access to: country data and statistics with a focus on comparable estimates; and WHO’s analyses to monitor global, regional and country situation and trends.