LibGuides: Public Policy: Statistics, Datasets, and Polls

Data Services @ the Library

The library's Data Services unit supports OU community members with their data needs. Check out their webpage for more information.

Statistics and Datasets

American National Elections Study (ANES)
To serve the research needs of social scientists, teachers, students, policy makers and journalists, the ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation. NOTE: To download the data, you must register with the site.
Cooperative Congressional Election Studies (CCES)
The CCES is a 50,000+ person national stratified sample survey administered by YouGov.
Database of Political Institutions
"...institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature, among others. The current version of the database, which is now hosted at the IDB, expands its coverage to about 180 countries for 40 years, 1975-2017."
Dataverse, Hosted by the Odum Inst. for Research in Social Science
Social science data. An open-source repository software application for archiving, sharing, and accessing research data.
General Social Survey (GSS)
Since 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS) has provided politicians, policymakers, and scholars with a clear and unbiased perspective on what Americans think and feel about such issues as national spending priorities, crime and punishment, intergroup relations, and confidence in institutions.

ICPSR
Coverage: 1962-present
Provides access to an archive of raw social science data for research and instruction.
As a member of ICPSR, the OU community has unlimited access and downloads; sign up for an ICPSR login to access content. All questions about ICPSR should be directed to the campus official representative for ICPSR, Dr. Ann Beutel, Department of Sociology.
Access to this resource is funded by the OU Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences.
For more information about using this resource, view the publisher's online tutorial.

Nationscape
Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape is a partnership between Democracy Fund Voter Study Group and UCLA Political Scientists Chris Tausanovitch and Lynn Vavreck and is one of the largest public opinion survey projects ever conducted — interviewing people in nearly every county, congressional district, and mid-sized U.S. city in the leadup to the 2020 election. Nationscape is fielded by Lucid, a market research platform that provides access to authentic, targeted audiences.
Pew Research Center
Digital tools and resources to access Pew Research Center data

PolicyMap
PolicyMap is an interactive online data and mapping tool that contains thousands of indicators used to understand communities. Regularly updated indicators include demographics, real estate, health, jobs, income and spending, housing, crime, quality of life, education, socio-economic factors, and more. Data is available at many geographic entities including census tract, zip code, city, state, school districts and political boundaries. Data sources include the Census Bureau, Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, and CDC BRFSS and is accessible as interactive maps, tables, charts, and reports.
For more information about using this resource, view the publisher's online tutorial.

SDA Archive
SDA is a set of programs for the documentation and Web-based analysis of survey data.

SimplyAnalytics
A mapping, analytics, and data visualization application with 100,000+ data variables, including demographic data from the US Census and American Community Survey, consumer spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and Dun & Bradstreet's point of interest business file providing detailed information on over 5 million businesses. Also includes the AGS Health Care dataset and the MRI-SimmonsLOCAL consumer behavior dataset with data on over 8,000 brands, psychographics, and MOSAIC market segments.
University of Oklahoma Libraries has licensed this resource for 4 simultaneous users. The user limit can be temporarily increased to accommodate classroom instruction or workshops. Please email UL Acquisitions in advance to request additional users.
NOTE: Faculty, staff, and students are not required to log-in with a user name and password, however, your work will not be saved unless an individual account is created.

Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality
The Center has five objectives: to monitor trends in poverty and inequality, to support scientific analysis of poverty and inequality, to develop science-based policy on poverty and inequality, to disseminate data and research on poverty and inequality, and to train the next generation of scholars, policy analysts, and politicians. Check the "Data" drop-down menu at the top of the home page for datasets.

Statista
Statista is a data portal offering ready-made statistics, reports, and survey findings from more than 40,000 reputable sources. Coverage includes the media, markets, industries, politics, population, opinions, lifestyles, and more. Data is downloadable in PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint.
For more information about using this resource, view the publisher's online tutorial.

Voter Study Group
The data shared here derive from the VOTER Survey (Views of the Electorate Research Survey) starting in 2016 and weekly Democracy Fund and UCLA Nationscape surveys spanning July 2019 to December 2020. These data form the basis for Voter Study Group analysis and reporting and are available for use by other scholars and journalists interested in engaging the public in meaningful conversations.
Voter Turnout
The International IDEA Voter Turnout Website contains the most comprehensive global collection of voter turnout statistics available. Regularly updated voter turnout figures for national presidential and parliamentary elections since 1945, as well as European Parliament elections, are presented country by country using both the number of registered voters and voting age population (VAP) as indicators.

World Bank Open Data Portal
This database provides access to over 2,000 World Development Indicators (WDI) from the World Bank data sets covering over 200 countries.
For more information about using this resource, view the publisher's online tutorial.

World Values Survey
The World Values Survey is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life, led by an international team of scholars, with the WVS association and secretariat headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Federal Statistics and Datasets

Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
Data.gov
U.S. Government’s open data. Here, you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.
National Center for Health Statistics
Downloadable public-use data files through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) FTP file server. Users of this service have access to data sets, documentation, and questionnaires from NCHS surveys and data collection systems.
OU Libraries A-Z List/Stats
Databases and e-reference materials related to data or statistics.

Polls

Gallup Poll
The library does not subscribe to Gallup, but its public website has articles summarizing the results of recent, selected polling data. Older polls available in print. See below.
Gallup Poll (in paper)
Call Number: HN 90 .P8 G35 (2nd floor)
Dates available: 1935-2017
PollingReport.com
An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion.

Roper iPoll
Coverage: 1935-present
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research provides public opinion data from polls conducted by major U.S. and international polling organizations. Roper iPoll includes broad topical coverage of opinions and behavior on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, the environment, science, and more. Questions, charts, demographic crosstabs, and datasets are all available.
For information about appropriate and restricted use of iPoll data, please see The Roper Center's terms and conditions.
For more information about using this resource, view the publisher's online tutorials.

Public Policy

Data Services @ the Library

Statistics and Datasets

Federal Statistics and Datasets

Polls

Our Libraries