Research Guides: Getting Started Finding Data (SJD's): Literature review on topic

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Introduction

This guide was designed for an SJD class on some basic approaches in finding data.

Things to consider:

Do you need "summary data" or statistics or more detailed or micro-level "data"? Raw, consumable data? If so, in what form? What technical skills and tools do you have?

Time frame and frequency (e.g. annual, monthly)--might need to do some math

Do you need only current or also historical or retrospective data? Can you get it from the same source? (Be careful if you are trying to mix data from different sources.)

Time series data?-Do you need data collected at regular intervals over time?

In what indicators/variables are you interested? What is your unit of analysis (e.g. individuals, companies, etc.)?

Geographic unit (e.g. country, city, etc.)?

Who might care about the data that you want? (See Who Might Collect This Data)

What is the source, scope and methodology of the data you are using? Definitions?

Did you do a literature review? (See Literature Review on Topic)

See Finding Data/Data Support: Getting Started (Barbara Mento, Boston College Libraries)

Try a general index or repository

General databases, repositories and portals

Data Repositories and Portals

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States (Harvard Login)
Summary statistics on the social, political and economic organization of the United States. Compiled from publications and records of various government and private agencies, it is designed to serve both as a convenient reference volume and as a guide to other statistical sources.
Proquest Statistical Insight (Harvard Login)
Proquest Statistical Insight is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts the statistical content of selected United States government publications, state government publications, business and association publications, and intergovernmental publications. The abstracts may also contain a link to the full text of the table and/or a link to the agency's web site where the full text of the publication may be viewed and downloaded.
Statista
Statista.com is a statistics portal that integrates over 60,000 diverse topics of data and facts from over 10,000 sources onto a single platform. Categorized into over 20 market sectors, Statista provides business customers, researchers, and the academic community with access to quantitative facts on agriculture, finance, politics, and additional areas of interest. Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. The Harvard Library is leasing access via a Premium Account to provide full access to the entire content of the platform.
Harvard Dataverse
The Harvard-MIT Data Center is the principal repository of quantitative social science data at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The majority of its holdings are available to Harvard and MIT affiliates directly via its web site through its search engine. Graduate students and faculty with a Harvard or MIT Library card can check out paper code books from libraries at either institution, under Harvard's and MIT's reciprocal borrowing agreement. In addition, the Data Center has negotiated a special agreement for undergraduates and summer graduate students, who are not covered by the standard agreement.

ICPSR

When you find an entry, check the source data.

Registry of Research Data Repositories

Research Guides

Note generally: When you find an entry, check the source data.

Specialized or subject index/repository

Topical sources

Databases for Statistical and Data-Related Research
Use "search databases" box at top of page to look for keywords on general topic or subject.
Find a database (Harvard)
Look for your subject or topic and keyword and add data or statistics.

Research guides

Subject Gateways

Gateway Corruption Assessment Toolbox

Literature review on topic

Databases

Find a database (Harvard)
SSRN
Hollis+
Statistical data sets is a resource type in results filter.

Dissertations and Theses Full Text (ProQuest)
Dissertations and Theses Full Text indexes dissertations and masters' theses from most North American graduate schools as well as some European universities. Provides full text for most indexed dissertations from 1990-present.
Academic Search Premier (Harvard Login)
Academic Search Premier (ASP) is a multi-disciplinary database that includes citations and abstracts from over 4,700 scholarly publications (journals, magazines and newspapers). Full text is available for more than 3,600 of the publications and is searchable.

You can look for articles on your topic to find articles that use data originally generated for that article or to see what data the author used in writing the article. Some databases also have subject and resource-type filters related to statistics, data, indicators, etc. to identify documents consisting of or related to data sets.

Research Guides at Harvard

Who might collect this data?

Thinking about who might care about this data

It is often useful to consider if there are particular governmental bodies or organizations that must or would want to collect the data in which you are interested.

Encyclopedia of Associations
The Encyclopedia of Associations is a comprehensive source of detailed information on over 135,000 nonprofit membership organizations worldwide. It corresponds to the printed Encyclopedia of Associations family of publications as follows: National Organizations of the U.S., which covers more than 22,200 American associations of national scope; International Organizations, which covers some 22,300 multi-national, bi-national, and non-U.S. national associations; and Regional, State, and Local Organizations, which covers more than 115,000 U.S. associations with interstate, state, intrastate, city, or local scope or membership. The Encyclopedia of Associations database provides addresses and descriptions of professional societies, trade associations, labor unions, cultural and religious organizations, fan clubs, and other groups of all types.

You can try identifying a particular governmental body, organization, etc. or start with a general web search using keywords related to your topic (narrowly or broadly) and adding words like data, statistics, index, indicators, etc.. Adding .site:.gov, site:.org or site:.edu to a Google search allows you to limit to websites on those domains. Certain topics might lend themselves to private research entities.

Polling/public opinion

Databases/Websites

Gallup Brain
Fully searchable records of 70+ years of public opinion polling data and analyses compiled by Gallup, Inc.
Gallup Analytics (Harvard Login)
Daily U.S. Data - economic, well-being, and political data collected daily since 2008 of 1,000+ interviews; World Poll Data - economic, social, and well-being data collected annually since 2005 in 160+ countries, 1.5 million+ interviews worldwide
Fully searchable records of Daily U.S. Data - economic, well-being, and political data collected daily since 2008 of 1,000+ interviews; World Poll Data - economic, social, and well-being data collected annually since 2005 in 160+ countries, 1.5 million+ interviews worldwide; and Gallup Brain - historical Gallup trends on thousands of topics from the U.S. and world dating back to the 1930s.
Roper Center for Public Opinion (Harvard Login)
Access to aggregate and raw public opinion data. Data collection is focused on United States public opinion but also includes growing collections of (micro-level) European, Latin American (Latin American Databank) and Japanese (JPOLL) polls. The data archive (micro-level data) is searchable by keyword, date, and survey organization.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion provides access to summary-level (aggregate) and micro-level (raw) public opinion data. While the data collection focuses strongly on United States public opinion, it also includes growing collections of (micro-level) European, Latin American (Latin American Databank) and Japanese (JPOLL) polls. The data archive (micro-level data) is searchable by keyword, date, and survey organization. The iPOLL database (summary-level data) is searchable by keyword, subject /or survey organization and survey sponsor; it provides question and response level data. The Roper Center resources require users to set up individual accounts in order to gain access to the data.
Polling the Nations
Polling the Nations is a comprehensive compilation of public opinion surveys, containing the full text of more than 350,000 questions and responses from 14,000 surveys conducted by 700 polling organizations from 1986 to the present in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Each record provides a question asked and the responses given. Also included is the polling organization responsible for the poll, the sample size and the date the poll was released.

Pew Research Center

News/secondary sources

You may sometimes find polls and surveys mentioned in newspaper articles and other secondary sources. You might try looking for words about your topic and adding the words "poll" or "survey" to your search.

Guides

Research guides and other materials

Harvard guides

Many subject guides have sections about finding data/statistics, so you might also try looking at our research guides for your subject/discipline words and data or statistics or look for a guide on your topic generally.

Empirical Research

Books and Databases

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, Second Edition by Jane E. Miller
Call Number: Reference T11 .M485 2015
ISBN: 9780226185637
Publication Date: 2015-04-09
Earning praise from scientists, journalists, faculty, and students, The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers has helped thousands of writers communicate data clearly and effectively. Its publication offered a much-needed bridge between good quantitative analysis and clear expository writing, using straightforward principles and efficient prose. With this new edition, Jane Miller draws on a decade of additional experience and research, expanding her advice on reaching everyday audiences and further integrating non-print formats. Miller, an experienced teacher of research methods, statistics, and research writing, opens by introducing a set of basic principles for writing about numbers, then presents a toolkit of techniques that can be applied to prose, tables, charts, and presentations. Throughout the book, she emphasizes flexibility, showing writers that different approaches work for different kinds of data and different types of audiences. The second edition adds a chapter on writing about numbers for lay audiences, explaining how to avoid overwhelming readers with jargon and technical issues. Also new is an appendix comparing the contents and formats of speeches, research posters, and papers, to teach writers how to create all three types of communication without starting each from scratch. An expanded companion website includes new multimedia resources such as slide shows and podcasts that illustrate the concepts and techniques, along with an updated study guide of problem sets and suggested course extensions. This continues to be the only book that brings together all the tasks that go into writing about numbers, integrating advice on finding data, calculating statistics, organizing ideas, designing tables and charts, and writing prose all in one volume. Field-tested with students and professionals alike, this holistic book is the go-to guide for everyone who writes or speaks about numbers.

Sage Research Methods Online
Research Technology Consulting (IQSS)
Targeted towards research for publication.

Technical tools and resources

Tabula
Extract data tables from pdf's.

Stata is available on some computers in the second floor computer lab, and on one computer in L408 (library fourth floor near Reference Desk).

Stata may also be licensed for a fee through the Stata site.