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Sociology

A Guide to Resources at Temple University Libraries and Elsewhere

Strategy for Finding Statistics and Data

Data / Statistical Resources

Plot data on a map or produce a report

Research guide:   Using Sanborn Maps, especially in Philadelphia. Details provided assume you have access to Temple Libraries databases at Temple. Prepared by Dr. RalphTaylor.

Finding Data Using Advanced Library Search

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), of which Temple is a member, provides access to a vast archive of social science data sets, which Temple users can directly download. A wide range of topics are included:  Social Institutions and Behavior: (Economics, Education, Family, Community and Urban, Mass Political Behavior); Health Data, Organizational Data; and Government Structures and Policy. All datasets have been cataloged and can be searched using Advanced Library Search on the library homepage. To locate a dataset on a specific topic, 1) select Advanced Library Search, 2) enter one or more keywords in the boxes, 3) select Dataset as the RESOURCE TYPE (when you click the empty box to the right of the words RESOURCE TYPE, you will see a list of different types including Datasets); 4) when you do the search, you will retrieve a list of datasets all of which contain the keywords you entered in the search boxes. For example, if you wanted to locate data about arrests, you would enter the keywords Arrests and data , and select Datasets as your Resource Type. When you click the Search button, you will receive a list of 161 datasets, all of which contain the keywords you entered in the search boxes: Arrests AND Data. When you click the Online button of any of the Datasets, you will be taken to a page with information about the dataset and a Download button.

For further information, consult the Research Guide Finding and Using Data from ICPSR