Econ 402: Junior Seminar

Compendia gather summarized statistics from many data series and sources.  They're often published by government agencies or organizations, and they can quickly provide you with an overview of the types of data collected and disseminated by a particular source.

Statistical Abstract of the United States. Summary statistics on many economic and social topics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data is available in downloadable Excel tables.  See chapter introductions and table footnotes to identify sources with more detailed data. Print: HA202.U5; current ed. in the library reference room.

Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Times to the Present. This 2006 edition from Cambridge University Press is a much-expanded and updated version of the 1975 "bicentennial edition" published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Print: Ref. HA202.H27 2006

United Nations Statistical Yearbook. Summary statistics for United Nations member countries, including economic statistics. The web version consists of PDF documents. Print: HA12.5.U63; current ed. in the library reference room.

United Nations Demographic Yearbook. A supplement to the United Nations Statistical Yearbook; includes series about population and other social indicators. Some series available on the web in Excel and PDF. Print: HA17.D45; current ed. in the library reference room.

• BEA: Bureau of Eonomic Analysis
  Measures of the economy, including national, international, and regional accounts.
  Coverage Dates: unknown - present
• BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics
  Statistics on employment, unemployment, and prices.
  Coverage Dates: unknown - present
• Census: Business and Industry
  Data and reports on business establishments and industries from the Economic Census and business surveys.
  Coverage Dates: 2002 - 2011
• Census: Population and Household
  Population and housing data, reports, and publications. Includes social and economic data for individuals and households.
  Coverage Dates: 1790 - 2010
• China Data Online
  National accounts data form China via the University of Michigan's China Data Center.
  Coverage Dates: 1982 - Present
• FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
  Thousands of U.S. economic data time series available as text or Excel downloads.
  Coverage Dates: 1913 - present
• ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research)
  Extensive library of social data. Reed users may download own files and documentation after registering at the web site. A statistical software package (e.g., Stata) is needed to use the data.
  Coverage Dates: -
• International Financial Statistics
  Select and download indicators from the International Monetary Fund.
  Coverage Dates: 1945 - Present
• Mergent Online
  U.S. and international company financial data, annual reports, and information on executives and corporate subsidiaries.
  Coverage Dates: 2001 - present
• OECD iLibrary
  Portal site for all electronic publications of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development. For data, choose Statistics from the navigation bar at the top of the main page. OECDStat, OECD's new data portal, is available in beta from this site.
  Coverage Dates: -
• Penn World Table
  Download economic data for 189 countries from this site provided by the Center for International Comparisons at the University of Pennsylvania.
  Coverage Dates: 1950 - 2007
• Proquest Statistical Data Sets
  Download data and create charts based on data sets from government, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations.
  Coverage Dates: -
• Proquest Statistical Insight
  A comprehensive index for publications of the U.S. government, international organizations, foreign countries, U.S. state governments, and non-governmental organizations. Search and download tables, abstracts of publications, and create tables based on datasets. (Formerly LexisNexis Statistical Insight.)
  Coverage Dates: 1974 - Present
• Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
  Archive of public opinion survey data. See quick snapshots of public opinion or download data sets.
  Coverage Dates: 1930 - Present
• Social Explorer
  Social Explorer provides easy access to demographic information about the United States, from 1790 to present. Includes social and economic data for individuals and households.
  Coverage Dates: 1790 - Present
• UNData
  Gateway to United Nations data sets on a wide range of subjects.
  Coverage Dates: unknown - unknown
• World Development Indicators Online
  Extract data by country from hundreds of economic and social indicators compiled by the World Bank.
  Coverage Dates: 1962 - Present

Data for Local Communities. Locate data about Oregon and Washingotn counties and cities contained in state and federal agency web sites.

FedStats. A directory of data available from over 70 U.S. government agencies. Includes useful features for locating government data by subject and geographic area, links to key indicators, and descriptions of activities of major data-collecting agencies.

U.S. Census Bureau. In addition to being a great source of data, the Census web site has a wonderful A-Z subject index.

Citations for statistics should enable your readers to locate the table or data that you have used in your assignment or paper. At a minimum, a citation should include:

• creator of the data (often an organization or government agency)
• date of publication
• where it was published
• address of the web site where you found the data, if from the web

Example from a printed book:

U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Residential energy consumption, expenditures, and average price, 1980 to 1997. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 120th ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 587. Table no. 949.

Example from a web site:

U.S. Energy Information Agency, 2001. Renewable energy consumption by energy source, 1995-1999. Table H1, www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/rea_data/tableh1.html.

Example from a database with session-dependent URLS; originally published in a journal:

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2001. Personal consuption expenditures by major type of product. Survey of Current Business (May):D-7, http://www.lnstatistical.com.

Use your literature review!  The articles, books, and reports you located through your literature search are based on data.  Read what the author(s) say about the data sources they used.  Ideally, the researchers will identify specific surveys, agencies, or organizations that collected the data they used.  Use this information to explore the lists of data sources on this page.