91¿´Æ¬Íø

Data Sources

When writing papers that involve quantitative analysis, a challenging part of the project is finding the data to test your research question. Below is a list of websites you may wish to visit in your search for appropriate data. Many of these websites contain freely downloadable data, while others may require fees for accessing data. A few may be accessible only from the W&M domain.

Sources are divided into general data, followed by macrodata, and microdata. Microdata typically consist of information on individuals or firms, while macrodata are usually aggregated at some level, such as the nation or the world. National data are available for the U.S. and many other nations. It is a good idea to check with your instructor before proceeding with the actual data analysis on your specific project.

1. GENERAL

   •  (ICPSR)
   • from the University of Michigan
   • , statistics from over 70 U.S. Federal Agencies
   • from EDIRC
   • from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2. MACRODATA

   1. U.S. Macrodata
      • The current Economic Report of the President from the .
      • Statistical Abstract of the United States from the
      • from the
      • from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
      • from the Congressional Budget Office
      • , an economics time series database, from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
      • from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
        Business Cycle Dates from the
      • from the National Bureau of Economic Research
      •  
      • from the U.S. Department of Energy
      • on filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission
      • from economagic.com/
      • from freelunch.com
   2. World Macrodata
      •  (OEDb)
      • at the
      • World Development Indicators from the
      • Created and once maintained by the Now maintained by  at the 
      • from the U.S. Census Bureau
      • Global Business Cycle Indicators from the
      • from the

3. MICRODATA

   1. U.S. Microdata, Cross-Sectional
      •   (U.S. Decennial Census data from 1850-2000; American Community Survey Data from 2001 to 2006; Current Population Survey Data from 1962 to 2006), from
      • (CPS) from
      • (SIPP) from
      •   from the
      • is a tool to extract datasets from federal agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Datasets are wide ranging. This new site streamlines the same information that Data Ferrett provided. 
      •   from at the
      • (SESTAT) from the
   2. U.S. Microdata, Panel
      •   ( , , and others) from the

        (PSID) from The Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan

        (HRS) from Institute of Social Research at University of Michigan

   3. World Microdata
      • Bangladesh: Matlab   from   
      • Developing Countries: from the
      • Developing Countries:
      • Europe and North America: Generations and Gender Program from the (UNCE)
      • Indonesia: from
      • Malaysia:   from RAND
      • Russia: from the
      • UK: from the (ISER),
      • World:
      • World: The ,