Where Do I Get Data?
Start by considering the sources below, and contact a research librarian to learn more.
What Are You Looking For?
Statistics on the US population or various cities and states?
- American Fact FinderUseful if you are not sure where to begin
- State and County QuickfFactsPopulation data for a specific city or county
Information on employment or occupations?
General statistics about different aspects of American life?
- Statistical Insight (formerly Statistical Abstract of the United States) This link opens in a new window
Economic, societal, or development data for other countries?
Survey data and opinion polls?
Something else?
More data sources are under the Finding Data tab as well as other categories in this guide.
Who Can Help With Data?
Get help with all aspects of your data project from the Data Librarian, Kara Kugelmeyer (kara.kugelmeyer@colby.edu)
Still looking for help? There are a number of people on campus who can help you connect with and use data for your research projects.
- Subject SpecialistsHelp with data and statistics in their subject area.
- Manny Gimond, GIS & Quantitiative Analysis Specialist (Academic ITS)Help with spatial data, sophisticated analysis of datasets. Manny offers classes in R or GIS
Consult Manny's tutorials under the Data Analysis tab.
Help With Statistics
- SOCR: Statistical Online Computational ResourceInteractive graphs and calculators, experiments, games, models, interactive plots and charts.
More Data Resources
Other research guides that target data:
Additional data sources are listed under research guides for specific subject areas.
In the Library
Common Errors in Statistics (And How to Avoid Them) by ISBN: 9780470457986Publication Date: 3rd ed. 2009
The Tao of Statistics by Call Number: SCIENCE QA276 .K253 2016ISBN: 9781483377926Publication Date: 2d ed. 2016This book a new approach to statistics in plain English, and walks readers through basic concepts, as well as some of the most complex statistical models in use.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Statistics by Call Number: SCIENCE REF QA276.14 .E84 2010ISBN: 9780521766999Publication Date: 4th ed. 2010Definitions provide enough mathematical detail to clarify concepts and give standard formula when these are helpful. The majority of definitions then give a reference to a book or article where the user can seek further or more specialized information, and many are accompanied by graphical material.
