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Use the following selected, significant research data archives to locate datasets for analysis. Data available in these sources need to be downloaded and used in software such as Excel, SPSS, Stata, R, etc. For looking up data tables and statistics, go to Get Started.
If you need additional sources for a data analysis project and for projects that require a practice dataset, try the sources recommended on our companion guide, Find Data for Analysis.
American National Election Study
You will need to register for an account (free!) to download the data file.
Choose the Time Series Study to get one year's data. The Cumulative Data File contains multiple years.
Be sure to look at the codebook & other documentation.
Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
Access to US and international religion data. The ARDA includes data archives, denominations, US congregational membership, national profiles, GIS data, & maps.
FRED: Federal Reserve Economic Data
Download, graph, and track 394,000 US and international time series from 79 sources.
General Social Survey
The GSS contains a standard ‘core’ of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Microdata for social and economic research. Includes American Community Survey, Census of Population and Housing, Current Population Survey, American Time Use Survey, international census microdata and the North Atlantic Population Project. Can select variables and customize dataset before downloading. (Minnesota Population Center)
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Access a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. Note that before downloading data, you will be asked to set up an account. Some online analysis is available. Most datasets will need to be downloaded for analysis in a statistical software package. You will need to set up an account through ICPSR before you can download data.
National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture (NADAC)
An interactive digital archive of policy-relevant data on the arts and cultural policy in the United States.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)
A nationally representative longitudinal study of nearly 9,000 U.S. families. Following the same families and individuals since 1968, collects data on economic, health and social behavior.
Pew Research Center: The Databank – Dataset Download
The Pew Research Center makes its data available to the public for secondary analysis. Get data from its research centers: Internet & American Life, Global Attitudes, Hispanic Center, People & the Press, Social & Demographic Trends, and Forum on Religion & Public Life. Note that Pew datasets are also available through The Roper Center.
Roper Center Public Opinion Archives
Great for poll & survey results. Includes datasets from the Pew Research Center. You will need to create an account to download data. George Mason University is a Roper Center member which means students, staff and faculty have full access to its resources.
Sociometrics provides access to a wide range of social science and behavioral health characteristics from hundreds of data sets covering a variety of target populations, e.g., children, adolescents, elderly.
World Bank Microdata Library
Access to data collected through sample surveys of households, business establishments or other facilities. These 'microdata' sets may also originate from population, housing or agricultural censuses or through an administrative data collection processes. The Library contains supporting documentation from censuses and surveys conducted or supported by the World Bank, as well as by other international organizations, statistical agencies and other agencies in low and middle-income countries.
Data in the Library on Digital Media
The library owns many CD-ROM and DVD electronic databases and data files that were received through the Federal Depository Library Program or purchased.
Below is a selected list of purchased data sets. To access these data sources, please contact us. Use of the purchased data sources is restricted to current George Mason University students, staff and faculty.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) Academic Community Supported Data Package
Carbon Disclosure Project. 2003 - 2013. CDP's public data on self reported climate change, water and forest-risk data. The purpose of this data set is for academic research only. Data used to compile the CDP Program Reports. Data are in Excel format.
Complete Economic and Demographic Data Source: CEDDS
Woods & Poole Economics. 2012. Data coverage is for all counties in the U.S. Contains historical data from 1970 and projections to 2040 of population by age and race, employment by industry, earnings of employees by industry, personal income by source, households by income bracket and retail sales by kind of business. The data and projections are for all counties, states, MSAs, and regions in the U.S. The data files contain more than sixteen million statistics. Data provided in both ASCII and spreadsheet file formats.
Current Population Survey. June Supplement. Marriage & Fertility
UNICON. 1971 - 2012. CPS Utilities provide compressed data, documentation, and extraction software for the Current Population Surveys. Contains the basic data and marriage and fertility supplements, including: fertility and birth expectations, immigration, marriage and birth history, child care, marital history, and emigration.
David Leip Election Data These very detailed election data sets, are compiled from official sources. The files are in Excel and .csv format and can be used with Microsoft Excel and related programs.
Euratlas Georeferenced Historical Vector Data Georeferenced historical vector data of Europe for the year 1600. Contains 21 georeferenced maps. Data is for use with geographical information systems (GIS) software. Available in shapefile format.
GeoLytics Census Collection Contain detailed population data from the American Community Survey, the decennial Census of Population and Housing, and other U.S. Census Bureau sources.
ITERATE: International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events
Vinyard Software. 1968-2011 The ITERATE project is an attempt to quantify data on the characteristics of transnational terrorist groups, their activities which have international impact, and the environment in which they operate. For additional data on terrorism, see: Conflict Analysis and Resolution Datasets Guide. Data are in spreadsheet format. See Research Note: Using the ITERATE Database for details.
Political Risk Services, Researcher Dataset: Composite Risk, Table 2B
PRS. 2012 and 2013. The International Country Risk Guide Researcher's Dataset - Composite Risk provides annual averages of the composite risk rating by county. Data are in spreadsheet format and are in addition to what is available through the library's ICRG subscription. See library's subscription to the ICRG for information on country risk analysis and ratings. ICRG monitors 140 countries and provides financial, political, and economic risk information and forecasts