Finding Research Data

UoB only
The UK’s largest collection of social, economic and population data sources. Contains qualitative data including interview transcripts and questionnaires, as well as major UK government-sponsored surveys, cross-national surveys, longitudinal studies, UK census data, international aggregate and business data. Research institutes include NatCen, Institute for Social and Economics Research (ISER) and the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) among many others.
You can filter search results by data type or search QualiBank for qualitative surveys, interview and open-ended questions: https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/qualibank

USE THE HASSET HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE ELECTRONIC THESAURUS TO FIND DATA BY SUBJECT: https://hasset.ukdataservice.ac.uk/hasset/en/

UoB only
Mass Observation Project consists of all the directives (questionnaires) sent out by Mass Observation and the responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers. It includes topics such as the Falklands War, clothing, attitudes to the USA, reading and television habits, morality and religion, and Britain's relations with Europe.

Directive topics, questions and responses up to 2009 are available on the Mass Observation Project (1981-2009) above.
For 2010 onwards, all list of all project directive topics can be viewed here: https://massobs.org.uk/pastdirectives/
Responses can be obtained by emailing moa@sussex.ac.uk. Please note the archive has a small team of staff, so do allow between 3-5 working days for a response.

Material collected by Mass Observation during the COVID-19 pandemic, including diaries and writing created during the pandemic by people living in the UK

UoB only
Mass Observation Online makes available personal diaries, surveys, and other materials to provide records of public opinion from 1937 to 1967.

UoB only
Primary source material. Search across all content or select specific collections such as 1980s Culture & Society, Amnesty International Archives, Gender: Identity & Social Change and Sex & Sexuality

Archive of UK TV & Radio broadcasts with programme transcripts.

Interview transcripts of the key players in the Brexit process: the campaigners, politicians, civil servants and officials who were involved speak in detail on the record about their experience

Archive of primary research material covering all aspects of the debate around Britain and the European Union. Includes campaigning literature, interview transcripts and MP personal papers.

Mainly quantitative data from elections surveys, but includes internet panels with open text questions. Requires SPSS, Stata, or R which can be downloaded from IT Services: https://uob.sharepoint.com/sites/itservices/SitePages/free-and-discounted-software.aspx

Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network archive of televised proceedings of the United States House of Representatives and Senate and other public affairs programming. Also includes an archive of UK Prime Minister's Questions

University of Bristol research data repository

Aggregates dataset records from multiple sources and allows searching of general repositories via a single interface.
Filter search results by 'Work Type' to 'dataset' in the left-hand menu

A comprehensive List of open data portals from around the world

Business database with UK and global newspaper content. Click on 'All Sources' (below the search box) to search for individual newspaper titles. Please note the default date range is the last three months but you can change this (below the search box). Coverage varies depending on the newspaper but some go back as far as 1980. To find coverage for a specific newspaper, search for the title and click the i icon

An online open access repository of research outputs, including figures, datasets, images, and videos.
Filter search results by item type to 'dataset' in the left-hand menu

Discover data sets hosted in thousands of repositories across the web. Filter results based on type of dataset (e.g., tables, images, text), or whether the dataset is available for free from the provider

Research data from across research fields, from Harvard University, USA and beyond

Repository for quantitative and qualitative research data at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science in the USA, comprising over 100 terabytes of data, audio, and video

Library newspaper page of historical archives for 20th century and earlier

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) research data in support of evidence based human and social development in South Africa and the broader region

Mixed methods and qualitative research studies available for download from an international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations. a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioural sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.

Database of UK newspapers articles. Search for individual newspaper titles or search across all UK newspapers

Over 2600 open data portals around the world

Browse over 7000 global newspapers & magazines.

A dedicated archive for storing and sharing digital data (and accompanying documentation) generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences and related disciplines

A resource for scholars, researchers and students interested in qualitative electoral research

A registry of research data repositories. Browse by data type, country, subject

Downloadable datasets sourced from government and academic sources with step-by-step guides that walk you through quantitative and qualitative data analysis