Library Databases & Datasets
ICPSR (Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Sciences Research): maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. ICPSR is a unit within the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and its office is in Ann Arbor. UM-Dearborn is one of ICPSR's 760 member institutions. Check out their Overview & Mission page for more information.
Policy Map (library database): a geographic information system (GIS) used to understand U.S. communities. Included in the tool is access to PolicyMap's extensive data collection, with over 15,000 indicators used to understand communities. These indicators are organized into general categories including demographics, income and spending, housing, lending activity, quality of life, economy, education, health, federal guidelines, and other analysis. For help, see their tutorials and FAQs on their Help page. VPN needed to use this database - follow the VPN Setup instructions on the Online Library Access page.
Sage Stats (library database): includes datasets that span all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as all counties, cities, and metropolitan statistical areas dating back more than 20 years. Topics include crime, education, employment, health, population, social welfare, transportation, and more. For help, see their FAQs page.
Social Explorer (library database): includes tools that allow you to explore U.S. Census data through the use of interactive data maps and also allows you to browse and download Census data in convenient formats for offline processing. For help, see their tutorials as well as their curated maps and datasets on their Help Guide.
Websites with Data and Statistics
US Census: the leading source of quality data about American people and communities
Data USA CIty Profiles (MIT): consolidates data from a variety of US government databases into city profiles which include health and safety, housing and living, economic, demographic, and education data
PEW Social and Demographic Trends: Data from studies of behaviors and attitudes of Americans in key realms of their lives. Includes datasets on Hispanic immigration attitudes and trends from the PEW Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project.
City of Detroit Health Department: Health Statistics Tables: Includes health profiles, population trends, mortality trends and characteristics, birth characteristics and natality trends, and other health statistics for the Detroit population
Detroit Crime Viewer: Interactive crime map (currently in beta phase) that shows where and when crimes were committed. Crimes are color-coded and it displays location, arrest category, report number, and charge description of incidents that happened within city limits. Users can filter results by date and crime, crime type, and also select location by police precincts, zip codes, neighborhoods, council districts, or by searching the interactive map.
Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Surveys: annual, state-level telephone surveys of Michigan residents, aged 18 years and olde, which act as the only source of state-specific, population-based estimates of the prevalence of various behaviors, medical conditions, and preventive health care practices among Michigan adults
Bureau of Justice Statistics: Datasets on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. For help, see their Help for Using BJS page.
Justice Map: Visualize race and income data as well as create and share maps for neighborhoods, counties, states, and the US. For help, see their Help and Instruction page.
General Social Survey (GSS): conducts basic scientific research on the structure and development of American society with a data-collection program designed to both monitor societal change within the United States and to compare the United States to other nations.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID): began in 1968 with a nationally representative sample of over 18,000 individuals living in 5,000 families in the US. Includes data covering employment, income, wealth, expenditures, health, marriage, childbearing, child development, philanthropy, education, and numerous other topics. The PSID is directed by faculty at the University of Michigan.
National Longitudinal Studies: a set of surveys by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics designed to gather information at multiple points in time on the labor market activities and other significant life events of several groups of men and women
Current Population Surveys (CPS): includes numerous high-profile economic statistics, including the national unemployment rate, and provides data on a wide range of issues relating to employment and earnings. Also collects extensive demographic data that complement and enhance our understanding of labor market conditions in the nation overall, among many different population groups, in the states and in substate areas.
American Housing Surveys (AHS): provides current information on a wide range of housing subjects, including size and composition of the nation's housing inventory, vacancies, fuel usage, physical condition of housing units, characteristics of occupants, equipment breakdowns, home improvements, mortgages and other housing costs, persons eligible for and beneficiaries of assisted housing, home values, and characteristics of recent movers
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS): includes three longitudinal studies that examine child development, school readiness, and early school experiences and provides national data on children's status at birth and at various points thereafter; children's transitions to nonparental care, early education programs, and school; and children's experiences and growth through the eighth grade.
National Household Education Survey (NHES): provides descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population and covers learning at all ages, from early childhood to school age through adulthood.
Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS): a major longitudinal effort designed to provide trend data about critical transitions experienced by students as they proceed through high school and into postsecondary education or their careers. The 2002 sophomore cohort will be followed, initially at 2-year intervals, to collect policy-relevant data about educational processes and outcomes, especially as such data pertain to student learning, predictors of dropping out, and high school effects on students' access to, and success in, postsecondary education and the work force.
Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS): a system of related questionnaires that provide descriptive data on the context of elementary and secondary education and policymakers a variety of statistics on the condition of education in the United States. The SASS system covers a wide range of topics from teacher demand, teacher and principal characteristics, general conditions in schools, principals' and teachers' perceptions of school climate and problems in their schools, teacher compensation, district hiring and retention practices, to basic characteristics of the student population.
Youth Development Study (YDS): initiated to address the developmental and achievement-related consequences of employment during the adolescent years. The data were collected as part of the ongoing Youth Development Study, which has surveyed the youth nearly annually (exceptions: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2008) since 1988.
