SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA RESOURCES ON THE WEB
This page provides links to resources
and data useful in social science research. It was prepared for the
use of faculty and students in the Sociology Department of The Catholic
University of America.
Indexes and Collections of Data Resource
Sites
Data Bases and Reports
Info/Data about Specific Research Projects
Online Library Resources
CUA Library Resources
Web Search Engines
Newspapers and news sources
Online polls and poll data
Narrative Introduction to the Use of Web Data
Resources
Listserv Discussion Groups on Social Science
Topics
ASA/APA Codes of Ethics for the use of Online Data
Citation Format Information
Meta-sites Providing Indexes and Links to
Collections of Data Resources:
Web Sites Offering Data Bases and/or
Reports
Web Sites Allowing Access to Information and/or Data
About Specific Research Projects:
Online Library Resources
CUA Library
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Library Home
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ALADIN, ProQuest, Lexis-Nexis, Jstor
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Catalogs,
Databases, Internet
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References,
Circulation, Interlibrary Loan, Instruction
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Locations, Descriptions,
Hours
Popular Web Search Engines
Online newspapers and news sources
Online polls and polling data
Introduction to data resources on the
Web:
Since the Internet is such a relatively new resource for research in the
behavioral sciences, it is too soon to know what the full impact of its
availability is likely to be, although some behavioral scientists believe that
its effects are likely to "revolutionize" research, in much the same way it is
seen to have the potential for revolutionizing the economy, jobs and work,
recreation, family life, politics, religion, and community. While we cannot know
what the future will bring, some trends in the use of the Internet as a resource
for research in the behavioral sciences are emerging. Specifically, the Internet
is becoming a resource for:
accessing a wide variety of data bases (some aggregated and
some not) and reports, such as those available through the U.S. Census Bureau . While the Census and
several other Internet sites (especially sites maintained by agencies of the
U.S. Government) allow generally free public access to their data bases, others,
such as Socionet and the ICPSR charge a fee. In most cases, the
data can easily be downloaded to a personal computer, allowing the researcher
the convenience of analyzing the data with her/his statistical package. A
relatively new development regarding online data bases is the option of
analyzing data at a remote Web site utilizing statistical software that
is also maintained at the remote site.
For example, you can visit Queens
College of the City University of New York , access the entire GSS (General
Social Survey) data base that includes surveys conducted nearly every year since
1972, and analyze those data using basic descriptive statistics such as
frequency distributions and cross-tabulations. The statistical package, like the
data, resides at Queens College. Thus far, only a few options for descriptive
and inferential statistics are available at a few sites. It seems likely that
more comprehensive statistical packages allowing more substantial and
sophisticated analyses will be available in the near future.
conducting online literature searches using a variety of search
engines, such as YAHOO , LYCOS , EXCITE
, and ALTA VISTA , and also by
visiting an increasing number of online libraries, such as that at the University of California at
Berkeley, which itself has links to over 900 library servers worldwide.
subscribing to and participating as a member of discussion groups on
topics of research interest (see "Examples of Discussion Groups of
Interest to Behavioral Scientists" below).
accessing a growing number of online courses in research methods and
statistics, which can be sources of new ideas for improving learning/teaching in
these areas. The World Lecture
Hall can lead you to several such courses.
conducting research studies of various sorts OF/ABOUT the
Internet and/or its effects on human behavior. Like all technologies, the
Internet is a social creation and it is rapidly becoming an important feature of
social life, affecting and being affected by other aspects of human behavior.
Who uses the Internet? For what purposes? What is the effect of the Internet on
human interaction patterns? Does it function to reduce or increase the amount of
inequality in society? What, if any, is the relationship between use of the
Internet and job satisfaction, worker productivity, stress, sense of community,
marriage and family life, religiosity, alienation, depression, and the use of
leisure?
These, and many other questions are legitimate and important topics for
behavioral science research. For an example of a Web site with a focus on
research about the Internet, see the WWW Virtual Library: Sociology of the Web,
Specialization Course in Web Sociology and Social
Informatics.
Codes of Professional Ethics:
APA/ASA Citation Formats:
