The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) database is a vast resource of searchable social science data research.  This excellent resource for research data is now available to Chico State University by the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences.

The ICPSR describes the database as:

“A searchable database that contains over 60,000 citations of known published and unpublished works resulting from analyses of data held in the ICPSR archive. Developed with support from the National Science Foundation (SES-9977984), the Bibliography represents over 50 years of scholarship in the quantitative social sciences, extending from the inception of ICPSR in 1962 to the present.

In most cases, analyses of numeric data formed the foundation for the literature, although in some cases the data played a less prominent role in supporting the research. The literature includes journal articles, books, book chapters, government and agency reports, working papers, dissertations, conference papers, meeting presentations, unpublished manuscripts, magazine and newspaper articles, and audiovisual materials.” for more information see the ICPSR Webpage.

Some datasets include:

  • U. S. Census data
  • Community and urban studies
  • Conflict, aggression, and wars within, between and among nations
  • Economic behavior, attitudes, and series of consumer surveys
  • Higher education general information surveys
  • Surveys of natural and social scientists and engineers
  • Elites and leadership studies
  • Survey of energy crisis attitudes and conservation behavior
  • Geographic names information system
  • Governmental structures, policies, and capabilities
  • Historical and contemporary public policy indicators
  • National survey on health care and health facilities
  • International systems: linkages, relationships, and events
  • Legal systems, national survey of lawyers' career satisfaction
  • Congressional roll call voting records
  • Mass political behavior and attitudes, election studies series
  • Social institutions and behavior; minorities and race relations; religion, socialization, students and youth; age and the life cycle; crime and the criminal justice system; vital statistics and family

Find data:

From the ICPSR Database, you can search by:

  • Keyword
  • Topic
  • Series
  • Geography
  • Investigator
  • International Data

Access:

Link to the ICPSR to access the database (login off campus is required).  A free account through the ICPSR database is required to download all of the data sets.  To create an account go to Log in/Create Account in the upper left hand corner.

For questions about ICPSR contact Jodi Shepherd, Political Science Librarian at jrshepherd @ csuchico.edu or Ask a Librarian.