Research and Course Guides: Economics Research Guide: Data

Sources of Cross-Sectional Data

General Social Survey (GSS)
The GSS is a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States conducted since 1972. It contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Explore, analyze, extract, and share custom sets of data using the GSS Data Explorer.
NOTE: Users must create a free GSS account for full functionality (dataset download, etc.)
Help/guidance:

Tips for Variable Selection and Downloading a Cross-Sectional Dataset from the General Social Survey (GSS)
This document provides general guidance for students in DASC, STAT, BUAN, and OPMT courses who need to obtain a cross-sectional dataset for a project or assignment.

How to Download Data from GSS
In this video, a professor from the University of Maine provides some helpful guidance on getting data from the GSS.
Note: The GSS interface has changed a little bit since this video.

IPUMS

Provides census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space (including from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey, see IPUMS-USA). Users can create and download a custom dataset once they have created a free IPUMS account.

Users must create a free IPUMS account for full functionality (dataset download, etc.)

Survey of Construction Microdata
The Survey of Construction (SOC) is a national sample survey of new houses selected from building permits and a canvassing of areas not requiring permits. The purpose of the SOC is to provide current national and regional statistics on starts, completions, and characteristics of new, privately-owned single-family and multifamily housing units and on sales of new single-family houses. The data include more than 50 physical and financial characteristics of single‐family houses started, completed, and/or sold in the U.S. each year. See the "Microdata Guide" PDF for variable definitions and more. Collection of these data is partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Data In Brief
A multidisciplinary, open access, peer-reviewed journal, which mainly publishes short, digestible data articles that describe and provide access to research data.
PLOS One
This journal publishes articles in over 200 subject areas across science, engineering, medicine and the related social sciences and humanities. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, negative and null results are all in scope.

PLOS journals require authors to make all data necessary to replicate their study’s findings publicly available without restriction at the time of publication. When specific legal or ethical restrictions prohibit public sharing of a data set, authors must indicate how others may obtain access to the data.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics
The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is the longest running longitudinal household survey in the world.

The study began in 1968 with a nationally representative sample of over 18,000 individuals living in 5,000 families in the United States. Information on these individuals and their descendants has been collected continuously, including data covering employment, income, wealth, expenditures, health, marriage, childbearing, child development, philanthropy, education, and numerous other topics. Over 7,600 peer-reviewed publications have been based on the PSID.

ICPSR

Datasets from the social and behavioral sciences and specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. Register for a (free, required) Researcher Passport account using your St. Thomas email address (and independent password) to download data sets. Click on "More Info" below for guidance.

To create a Researcher Passport account:
Click the Log In button at upper right, then select the "Sign in with email" option (NOT the blue "Access through your institution" button), then "Set up a new account."

Email Account Validation:
Typically, ICPSR will automatically recognize your institution and validate your account. If you're trying to download data and receive an unexpected alert that you're not from a member institution, even though you are, your account may need to be validated. To request a validation, send an email to icpsr-help@umich.edu.

Sources of Time Series Data

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
FRED is a database of more than 55,000 economic time series maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Covers banking, business/fiscal, consumer prices, employment, population, exchange rates, gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, money supply, producer price indexes (PPI), U.S. trade and international transactions, and U.S. financial data. Compiled by the Federal Reserve and collected from federal economic agencies.

Sage Data

U.S. and international datasets sourced from governmental, commercial, and private organizations.

Subject categories include: Banking, Finance, and Insurance; Criminal Justice and Law; Education; Energy Resources and Demand; Food and Agriculture; Government and Politics; Health and Vital Statistics; Housing and Construction; Industry and Commerce; International; Labor and Employment; Natural Resources and Environment; Population and Income; Prices and Cost of Living; Stocks and Commodities; Transportation and Travel.
Passport

Analysis, reports, data, and news for U.S. and international industries, companies and brands, consumers, and economies.
Passport user guide
Cross National Time Series (CNTS) Data Archive

Annual time series data on demographic, political, legislative, economic, and social science variables from 1815 to the present for over 200 countries.

CNTSDATA.xlsx is the main dataset file. The Events Data LINKS files are separate by year. Be sure to consult the User Manual and the Codebook for data definitions and usage tips.

OECD Data Explorer
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Data
Bureau of Labor Statistics home page
Use the Subject Areas section menu at the top to navigate data sources on inflation and prices, consumer spending, employment and unemployment, pay and benefits, productivity, etc.
BEA home page
Portal to the BEA's economic data
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Data Portal

Academic Services Librarian

Jim Kelly

He/him/his

Email Me

Contact:

O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library | LIB 115

651-962-5012

Subjects: Accounting, Business, Business Analytics, Computer & Information Sciences, Data & Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Operations & Supply Chain Mgmt