Data Librarian
Senior Research Data Management Librarian
Generally Useful Sites for Data and Statistics
These sites include microdata on a wide variety of topics. Time and geographic coverage varies widely by dataset.
- ICPSR This link opens in a new windowThe Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. Users may view documentation, download raw data, and search a bibliography of data-related literature. (You must create a personal ICPSR account with your virginia.edu email address in order to download data.)
These sites offer statistics on a wide variety of topics. The time periods vary, but are mostly late 20th century to present. Geographic coverage and geographic units all vary.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista.com consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources.
- Sage Data This link opens in a new windowSage Data repository contains over 18.9 billion datapoints from over 400 databases sourced from 70 public and private organizations. The datasets contained in Sage Data are structured and homogenized to permit correlation of multiple, diverse indicators. The Sage Data repository continues to grow regularly with the addition of new datasets drawn from public and private sources.
- Our World in DataNice resource for finding international data on all kinds of policy-related topics. Note that you can download the data as a CSV file. Check out the Source tab for information about the data file and the original source of the data. Because they use data from third parties, you might want to check out how to cite OWiD sources correctly.
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowPolicyMap is an online data and mapping tool that enables researchers to access data about communities and markets across the United States. Major topics are: Demographics, Incomes & Spending, Housing, Lending, Quality of Life, Economy, Education, Health, Federal Guidelines, Analytics (e.g., market value). There is also the option to upload your own data to map within their system.
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowThis online resource provides quick and easy access to current and historical census data. Users can create custom data reports at many geographic levels and download data in a variety of file formats for use with statistical software. Includes: ACS, Decennial Census, Population Estimates (county level, since 2010), Business Patterns, Environmental Summaries, Religion, Crime, Health, Cancer, and some international survey data.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new windowThe Statistical Abstract of the United States provides comprehensive summary of statistics on these major topics: Population, Health, Education, Crime, Environment, Government, Human Services, Labor Force, Income, Prices, Business, Science, Agriculture, Energy, Construction, Manufacturing, Trade, Transportation, Information and Communication, Finance, and Arts. The source notes can be used to find more detailed tables and machine-readable datasets. Online from 2013-present through ProQuest (above link), 1886-2013 online or in print.
United States - Media and Communication
- ACRL/EBSS Library Resources for Communication Studies: Media Ratings, Data, and StatisticsUseful listing of sources for media ratings, data, and statistics provided by an association of education and behavioral science librarians.
- Alliance for Audited Media This link opens in a new windowTime period: varies by publication
Geographic coverage: North America
Geographic unit(s): ZIP code, city, state
Unit of observation: publication
The Media Intelligence Center contains circulation statistics for over 3,000 U.S. newspapers and magazines. Audited Reports and Publisher’s Statements provide information on total paid circulation for annual subscriptions and single copy sales, average prices, and circulation by issue and geographic region. Compare print and digital readership rates and find data on website usage, mobile app downloads, and social media interactions.
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Time period: varies by database
Geographic coverage: US
Geographic unit(s): city, state, national
Unit of observation: varies by database
The FCC provides more than 40 databases for the public to search and retrieve records and reports regarding radio stations, television stations, antenna structure registration, consumer complaints, telecommunication companies, licensing and fillings, and more. - Linguistic Data ConsortiumLinguistic Data Consortium distributes a wide array of language resources. Learn more about how to obtain data.
- Media CloudTime period: real time search
Geographic coverage: US and some other countries/areas
Unit of observation: text
Media Cloud, an open source platform for studying media ecosystems, is a collaboration between the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Center for Civic Media at MIT. Users can access the text data in their archive of over 5 billion sentences and over 25,000 online media sources by using their analysis tools or API. - Pew Research Center: Internet & TechnologyTime period: 2000-present
Geographic coverage: United States
Geographic unit(s): national
Unit of observation: individual/household (survey microdata)
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. These datasets focus on internet and technology. See Internet & Technology topics. - Pew Research Center: Journalism & MediaTime period: 2008-present
Geographic coverage: United States
Geographic unit(s): national
Unit of observation: survey microdata
Unit of observation: political advertising
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. These surveys are about journalism and media. See Journalism & Media Topics. - WiscAdsTime period: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008
Geographic coverage: United States
Geographic unit(s): media markets (DMAs)
Unit of observation: political advertising
The Wisconsin Advertising Project ("WiscAds") is a research project that analyzes how political candidates, political parties, and special interest groups communicate with voters via advertising. Between 2000-2008, WiscAds grew from the 75 largest media markets (DMAs) to the entire country. Each ad comes with a variety of codes, including issues mentioned (e.g., economic and social policies), suggested actions for a voter to take, and who paid for the ad.
International - Media and Communication
- Eurostat: Digital Economy and SocietyTime period: 1998-present (varies by indicator)
Geographic coverage: Europe
Geographic unit(s): national
Unit of observation: individual/household; enterprise
Eurostat provides databases and statistics in numerous themes. Find statistics regarding digital economy and society such as policy indicators, telecommunication services, computers and internet in households and enterprises, e-commerce, e-skills, and more.
- International Historical Statistics, 1750-2010 This link opens in a new windowTime period: 1750-2010
Geographic coverage: international
Geographic unit(s): country
Unit of observation: statistics
IHS is a collection of statistics covering a wide range of socio-economic topics. Find information on communication such as postal and telegraph traffic, telephones in use, and radio and television sets in use. Content is divided into three geographical areas: (1) Africa, Asia, Oceania, (2) Americas, and (3) Europe. Tables can be downloaded in Excel format.
- Net Data DirectoryTime period: real time search
Geographic coverage: international
Geographic unit(s): national, regional, global
Unit of observation: data source
The Net Data Directory, a searchable database of different sources of data about the Internet, is a partner of Internet Monitor, a project of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Find data sources related to topics such as access and infrastructure, advertising, APIs, apps, blocking, censorship, cybercrime, cybersecurity, e-commerce, mobile, online dating, phishing, web radio, web technologies, and many more. - UNCTAD STATTime period: 2000-present
Geographic coverage: international
Geographic unit(s): national
Unit of observation: aggregated
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) maintains a Data center, which provides data of a wide range of topics. Find and download data tables of information economy, such as ICT producing sector core indicators, share of ICT goods of total trade, trade flows by ICT goods categories, and more. - UNDataTime period: varies
Geographic coverage: International
Geographic unit(s): varies by source
UN Data is a portal for finding data from the UN, OECD, IMF, and more. Databases related to Media and Communication include: World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators. - UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)Time period: 1970-present
Geographic coverage: international
Geographic unit(s): national
Unit of observation: aggregated
The UIS provides statistics of education, culture, communication and information, as well as science, technology and innovation. Find movie statistics such as cinema infrastructure, ticket price, language of production in the UIS.Stat database.