LibGuides: Sociology: Finding Data & Data Resources

Demographic Information

Local (New York City & New York State)

American Community Survey (ACS) via NYC Department of City Planning "The American Community Survey (ACS) is the most extensive nationwide survey currently available. From its annual releases we are able to examine the city’s detailed demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics."
NYC Department of City Planning - Community District Profiles The NYC DCP Portal is a "gateway to data, maps, and other resources describing New York City’s 59 community districts."
NYC FactFinder (Census and ACS) from NYC Department of City Planning Use the Census FactFinder map overlay to learn more about census data in the 5 boroughs.
NYC Open Data Browse through NYC open data sets on topics ranging from city government and housing and development, to education and transportation.

National

American Fact Finder To fill in the gaps between the main census years, the Census Bureau conducts the annual American Community Survey. The Survey began in 2000 and all reports are available on American Factfinder .
GSS (General Social Survey) Data "The GSS has been a reliable source of data to help researchers, students, and journalists monitor and explain trends in American behaviors, demographics, and opinions. You'll find the complete GSS data set on this site, and can access the GSS Data Explorer to explore, analyze, extract, and share custom sets of GSS data."
Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security View reports, statistics and download data tables from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics. View statistical yearbooks from 1998 - present, access related resources from DHS, and more.
Population & Housing Estimates - US Census "The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program (PEP) produces estimates of the population for the United States, its states, counties, cities, and towns, as well as for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its municipios. Demographic components of population change (births, deaths, and migration) are produced at the national, state, and county levels of geography. Additionally, housing unit estimates are produced for the nation, states, and counties."
United States Census Bureau Portal to US Census data, including people and households, business and industry, geography and maps. Includes links to special topics and economic indicators.

International

CIA World Factbook "The World Factbook, produced for US policymakers and coordinated throughout the US Intelligence Community, marshals facts on every country, dependency, and geographic entity in the world. We share this information with the people of all nations in the belief that knowledge of the truth underpins the functioning of free societies."
UNdata Keyword searchable database over 50 million records from the United Nations and its agencies. Includes demographic, economic, education, health, environmental, agricultural, and technology indicators.

World Bank's DataBank This link opens in a new window The World Bank's DataBank is the gateway portal to the World Bank's World Development Indicators, Statistical Capacity Indicators, Education Statistics, Gender Statistics, and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics. Multiple datasets are available and users can access DataBank publications and the Data catalog. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies. Approximately 1960 to present.

Historical Statistics

Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window Quantitative facts of American history. Statistical tables covering population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, economic sectors, and governance and international relations. The fully searchable and downloadable electronic edition permits users to graph individual tables and create customized tables and spreadsheets reflecting their own particular areas of interest. Scope: United States. Dates: 1700s-2000 (majority of tables falling between 1790-1990).

IPUMS: The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) "IPUMS provides census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. IPUMS integration and documentation makes it easy to study change, conduct comparative research, merge information across data types, and analyze individuals within family and community context."

Public Opinion Statistics

Pew Research Center Non-partisan fact-gathering organization, which provides information on demographics, public opinion, and other social issues.
Gallup Poll Public opinion polls and data on political, social, and economic issues since 1935.
NORC at the University of Chicago Social science research, data, and analysis designed to be objective and used for decision-making.
Roper Center at Cornell "The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is the largest archive of public opinion data in existence." Data going back to the 1930s.

Crime Statistics

Local (New York City & New York State)

CompStat 2.0: NYC Crime Statistics - NYPD Browse crime statistics by geographic location and/or specific types of crimes using NYC CompStat 2.0 from the NYPD.
NYC Public Safety Data - NYC Open Data Search through NYC open datasets for public safety.
Historical New York City Crime Data "The New York City Police Department records reported crime and offense data in accordance with the New York State Penal Law and other New York State laws. For statistical presentation purposes the numerous law categories and subsections are summarized by law class: felony, misdemeanor and violation."

National

Bureau of Justic Statistics Crime statistics reported to the U.S. government, including data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD).
FBI Uniform Crime Reports Browse through the Uniform Crime Reports from the FBI as well as four annual publications: Crime in the United States, National Incident-Based Reporting System, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, and Hate Crime Statistics which are produced from data received from over 18,000 city, university/college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the program. The crime data are submitted either through a state UCR Program or directly to the FBI’s UCR Program.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data NACJD makes criminal justice data available to the public for secondary analysis.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts (NCJRS) This link opens in a new window This database covers literature related to research, policy and practice in criminal and juvenile justice and drug control. Search over 189,000 U.S. and international publications, including federal, state and local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, audiovisual presentations and unpublished research. Subjects covered include correction, criminal justice statistics, drug policy, juvenille justice, police training, and more. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1975-present.

Public Safety Data - Data.gov Search and browse through data sets from the federal government on public safety.

International

Bureau of Justice Statistics - International Justice Statistics Browse international justice statistics curated by the BJS. Includes datasets from the UN, BJS reports, and more.
UNdata Keyword searchable database over 50 million records from the United Nations and its agencies. Includes demographic, economic, education, health, environmental, agricultural, and technology indicators.
United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Search and browse through reports from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.

Gun Violence
When looking for information on gun violence it is important to note it will usually be classified under "Interpersonal Violence."

CDC’s WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) An interactive, online database that provides fatal and nonfatal injury, violent death, and cost of injury data from a variety of trusted sources. The different reports cover the United States and you can limit by "Firerarm" under "What was the cause or mechanism of the injury based on the abstractor-assigned manner of death? (Select one or more boxes.)"
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Data Visualizations Visual reports offer an overview of information comparing deaths, violence, and injury due to a variety of factors (including gun violence). Use options such as GBD Compare and Causes of Death for visual data. Once in these visualizations select Cause and utilize options such as Unintentional Injuries (Unintentional firearm injuries) or Self Harm and Interpersonal Violence (Self harm by firearm or Physical violence by firearm).
Violence Prevention: The Evidence (from World Health Organization) A report on prevention of violence, including gun violence. Utilize the bibliography for further statistics.

Looking for information on laws and regulations in the United States regarding firearms? There is a collection called Gun Regulation and Legislation in America in:

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Full text collections of legal journals, texts, cases, statutes, regulations, presidential materials, treaties, as well as international and foreign legal journals, cases and materials. Content is in the original page-image (PDF) format, ensuring the authenticity of the original hardcopy document. Content includes historical and current materials. Collections include Law Journal Library, History of International Law, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register Library, Legal Classics, Women and the Law (Peggy), U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library, U.S. Attorney General & Department of Justice Collection, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, U.S. Presidential Library, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Supreme Court Library. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.

Economic Data

Local (New York City & New York State)

Bureau of Labor Statistics - New York View data sets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the New York - New Jersey information offices.
NYC Department of Labor - Resources List of resources from the NYC Department of Labor, including labor statistics.
NYCEDC - Economic Snapshot Monthly summary of NYC's economy from New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Regional Economic Indicators - NY Frequently used regional indicators on general economic conditions, employment, housing, income and inflation. From the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

National & International

Bureau of Labor Statistics - United States Department of Labor Search through data resources from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Topics include inflation and prices, employment predictions, unemployment, pay and benefits, and more.

IMF Government Finance Statistics This link opens in a new window Provides detailed annual statistical data on revenue, expense, transactions in assets and liabilities, and stocks of assets and liabilities of general government and its subsectors as reported by member countries. Available through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) eLibrary. Scope: Worldwide Dates: 1990 to present, International Finance Statistics from 1948 to present

OECD - Social & Welfare Statistics OECD Social and Welfare Statistics provide data on trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysis in changes in its composition. A wide range of social policy topics are covered including: old age, incapacity-related benefits, health, family, active labor market programs, unemployment, and housing. Datasets on social expenditure, income distribution, taxes and benefits, child well-being and pensions are also available.

OECD National Accounts Statistics This link opens in a new window OECD National Account Statistics includes data on public sector debt, central government debt, GDP, disposable income, and general government accounts for OECD countries and non-member economies. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1955 to present.
OECD Tax Statistics This link opens in a new window OECD Tax Statistics provides information via two databases - The Revenue Statistics and The Taxing Wages databases. Includes tax and other government revenue data, taxation and social security contributions as percentage of GDP, in addition to information about taxes paid and benefits received by workers. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1975 to present (Revenue); 1979 to present (Taxing Wages).
STAN: OECD Structural Analysis Statistics This link opens in a new window Provides data on annual measures of output, labor input, investment and international trade. New tables and data are made available as soon as they are published by OECD. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 2005 to present.
World Bank's DataBank This link opens in a new window The World Bank's DataBank is the gateway portal to the World Bank's World Development Indicators, Statistical Capacity Indicators, Education Statistics, Gender Statistics, and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics. Multiple datasets are available and users can access DataBank publications and the Data catalog. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies. Approximately 1960 to present.

Additional Resources

The Data Visualisation Catalogue
Search by function or view a full list of the different ways you can display data, and learn more about what they signify.