Subject Guides: Finding Data and Statistics: Home

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Where can I get help with statistical software/analyses?

If you're navigating the complexities of statistical software or analysis, here are some areas where you might need assistance:

Selecting or Using Statistical Software: Whether you're unsure about which software to use or need guidance on how to effectively utilize it for your research.
Choosing Appropriate Methodologies: Identifying the right methodologies for your analyses based on your specific data and research questions can be challenging. Get help to ensure your approach is sound.
Interpreting or Selecting Outputs: Understanding the results of your statistical analyses and choosing the most relevant outputs can be crucial for your research findings.

Depending on your role at AU, you have several support options for where to get assistance:

AU Faculty:
- Contact the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning (CTRL) for personalized consultations. CTRL can help with everything from software selection to advanced methodological support.
AU Students:
- For software-specific questions or issues, reach out to Statistical Software Support.
- If you need more in-depth assistance with your statistical analyses, the Statistical Consulting Center offers expert guidance on methodologies, data interpretation, and more.

For further support, check with the appropriate contact within your academic unit to explore additional resources and services available to you.

Data or statistics: what's the difference?

What is the difference between Data and Statistics?
An excellent explanation of the difference between Data and Statistics by Michigan State University Library.

For more information about the differences between data and statistics, watch this brief video from Examrace.

Examrace. (2020, June 4). What is data? What is the difference between data & statistics? (IMO) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ELznUZHgYn4?si=fy6Te2T4pM4MnhIZ

A word of caution to first time data seekers

For the purposes of any one semester-long course, do not to set your 'data demand' bar too high, and do not commit to a research topic based on the assumption that the data you would need for it is definitely available.

Some students seek analyzable data that does not exist, since it was never collected - or at least not at the level of geographic or temporal granularity desired - or data that does exist but has high barriers to access, such as cost or usage restrictions or approval times. Some data may also require a lot of cleaning and preparation before it is ready to be analyzed.

Also, consider whether you’re willing and prepared to merge two or more datasets together to get all the variables you need, which can be tricky, though the statistical support units mentioned on this page may be able to help you with that if needed.

Lastly, consider the units of observation for your analyses when looking for datasets – are you looking at persons, or households, or counties, or countries, or companies, or bird nesting sites, …?

Finding data for your own research

Online databases that AU Library subscribes to containing numeric data
The database descriptions provide an overview of their contents and any important access information. Selected ones from this large group are listed further below.
AU Library FAQ "I need a dataset for the quantitative section of my paper"
Google Advanced Search
Can be used to focus searches on specific file types, such as Excel, and Internet domains, such as .ca.gov for California government agencies or .edu for accredited education institutions in the USA. (For more on domains, see: https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/internet-domain-name.) Can also be entered directly into basic Google search box, for example (for latest Excel file format):

pollution data site:.ca.gov filetype:xlsx

Caveat: just because a file is in Excel format does not mean it contains analyzable data.
Eleven quick tips for finding research data
A 2018 article on finding research data, natural/physical science-centric but with some generally applicable advice.

Selected (out of over 100) online resources that AU (Library) subscribes to that contain numeric data - these are suitable for statistical analyses:

ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Science Research This link opens in a new window
This resource includes both publicly available and non-publicly available datasets on public policy and social science research.
**Access to datasets requires a free user-specific login.
To create or log into your ICPSR account, click on the 'Log In' button found in the upper right corner of most ICPSR pages.**
Additional information, particularly about off-campus access, is available in the library's Accessing ICPSR datasets at AU Subject Guide.
Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS) microdata This link opens in a new window
Datasets (in SPSS format) and their codebooks (in Excel format) from the Gallup Poll Social Series (GPSS). For each month, the dataset contains a common set of basic indicator variables, and different sets of topical variables, for years going back to 2001, as indicated in its codebook.
For more information on the GPSS, please see How Does the Gallup Poll Social Series Work?
** Items in this collection are labeled 'under embargo' and can be accessed when connected to the secure campus network (includes AU VPN). **
Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive This link opens in a new window
The Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive, launched in 1968, contains domestic conflict, political, legislative and economic data (around 200 variables) on over 200 countries from 1815 onward.
iPOLL and RoperExpress (Roper Center) This link opens in a new window
U.S. and international public opinion polls (iPOLL) and datasets (RoperExpress) from 1935 to present. Includes the major academic, commercial and media survey organizations.
DataCite Commons This link opens in a new window
Searchable database of metadata records for works that have been assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), including datasets, texts, and images. (For background information on DOIs, see https://subjectguides.library.american.edu/dois).