Social Work 306: Introduction to Social Welfare Policy
Searching for Data
Before you start your search consider:
- What is your research question? What type of data or statistical information do you need?
- Who or what organizations are also interested in your research question? Who would create or manage that information? What data sources have been used to answer topics related to the same or similar research questions (for example, those found in literature reviews)
- What geographical location does your data need to cover? National, state, county, municipality, census tract, etc?
- How is the data collected? What is the methodology or unit of analysis?
- When was the data collected? What is the time period you want to investigate? How frequently is the data collected?
Find Government Data and Statistics
Search or browse the USA.gov departments and agency index to determine which department or agency collects data on your topic. Look for "library", "resources", or "research" on agency websites to find published data.
Browse Census Bureau topics and subtopics to help find the information you need.
**Since January 20, 2025, some federal agency data and reports were removed or altered from government webpages. Please contact a librarian if you cannot find the data you are looking for.**
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Data.gov
Data.gov provides access to federal, state and local open datasets. Search or browse non-sensitive government data and tools in a variety of formats, covering topics such as business, health, education, science, and much more.
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Census Data
The U.S. Census Bureau interface for distributing the Decennial Census of Population and Housing, the Economic Census, the American Community Survey, annual economic surveys, and other upcoming major related statistical files. This site is the primary source for the Census and the current economic census reports. The site is updated regularly with new data as it becomes available to the public.
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USASpending.govUSAspending is the official open data source of federal spending information,
including information about federal awards such as contracts, grants, and loans. -
My Tribal Area - US Census BureauAccess select datasets collected from the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population from the American Community Survey (ACS).
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National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.
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Housing and Urban Development Data SetsData sets provided by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administration.
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Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) DataMaster list of databases, tables, and Calulators by subject of all data collected and reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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U.S. Bureau of Economic AnalysisThe U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is your source of accurate and objective data about the nation's economy. BEA's economists produce some of the world's most closely watched statistics, including U.S. gross domestic product, better known as GDP, as well as state and local numbers, foreign trade and investment stats and industry data.
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Data USAVisualization tool for open U.S. Government data on geographic locations, occupations, industries, and more. Map, compare, and download data, e.g. median household income by state.
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City of Milwaukee Open DataUnder the City's 2016 Open Data Policy, there is now a open data portal for City of Milwaukee data. Topics Include: Aldermanic districts, voting wards, neighborhoods, police districts, properties, parcels, streets, schools, snow removal, leaf collection, streetcar routes and stops, neighborhood strategic planning areas, and more.
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Milwaukee County Open DataThis is the GIS open data portal for Milwaukee County. The Topo-Planimetric county-wide data download offers users some of the most comprehensive basemap data available for Milwaukee County, including natural and man-made features. The Cadastral county-wide data download includes basemap information about real estate and property. Each are available county-wide or for specific areas.
Find Datasets
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Sage Data
Provides access to a wide variety of economic, social, and political indicators including data sets from the U.S. government, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the OECD, Eurostat, the United Nations, the world's stock exchanges, and Zillow. Offers customized graphing and mapping.
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Social Explorer
Interactive tool that combines modern and historical US census and demographic data with an intuitive map interface, 1790 to present.
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Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)Archive of online original research data on social science topics. Create your own MyData personal account.
UWM is a member - contact is Dr. Lex Renda
History Department. renlex@uwm.edu -
DataLumosDataLumos is an ICPSR archive for valuable government data resources. ICPSR has a long commitment to safekeeping and disseminating US government and other social science data. DataLumos accepts deposits of public data resources from the community and recommendations of public data resources that ICPSR itself might add to DataLumos.
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DataPortals.orgA detailed list of Open Data Portals from around the world.
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Harvard DataverseThe Harvard Dataverse Repository is a free data repository open to all researchers from any discipline, both inside and outside of the Harvard community, where you can share, archive, cite, access, and explore research data. Each individual Dataverse collection is a customizable collection of datasets (or a virtual repository) for organizing, managing, and showcasing datasets.
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General Social Survey (GSS): Data ExplorerSince 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS), from NORC at the University of Chicago, has been a reliable source of data to help researchers, students, and journalists monitor and explain trends in American behaviors, demographics, and opinions. Create a free MyGSS account to access, analyze, and save GSS data.
Find Statistics
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Historical Statistics of the United States (Millennial Edition Online)
The Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition Online is the definitive source of statistics and data about the United States and is a key resource for American history research from Colonial times to the present. This is an updated version of the print resource. This resource includes statistics from over 1,000 sources and includes more than 37,000 data series. It covers all data on social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade - quantitative facts of American History. Major categories include: Population, Work and Welfare, Economic Structure and Performance, Economic Sectors, Governance and International Relations.
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Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online
The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics presents data from more than 100 sources about all aspects of criminal justice in the United States. These data are displayed in over 1000 tables.
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Government Finance Statistics
The Government Finance Statistics database from the IMF provides data on transactions and balance sheets of general government units in over 150 countries and
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UNESCO Institute for StatisticsThe UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the official and trusted source of internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication.
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World Development Indicators
World Development Indicators (WDI) online provides a comprehensive selection of economic, social and environmental indicators, drawing on data from the World Bank and more than 30 partner agencies. The database covers more than 900 indicators for 210 economies with some data back to 1960. The WDI database is the primary World Bank database for development data from officially-recognized international sources.
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UN Human Development IndexThe Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.
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World Bank Open DataThis site is designed to make World Bank data easy to find, download, and use. All of the data found here can be used free of charge with minimal restrictions. You can search for indicator names, countries, and topics.
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World Values SurveyA global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life.
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Europa World
Access ends July 31, 2025.
Europa World is the online version of the Europa World Year Book, the indispensable source of information on world-wide affairs. First published in 1926, the year book is renowned as one of the world's leading reference works, covering political and economic information in over 250 countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
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European Social Survey (ESS)An academically driven cross-national survey that has been conducted every two years across Europe since 2001. The survey measures the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of diverse populations in more than thirty nations.