LibGuides: Sociology: Research data

Library

Research data

The library provides access to multiple sources of research data, including the UK Data Service, Mass Observation, OECD iLibrary, Statistica and primary source archives such as A M Search, all available in the A-Z databases list for sociology.

There are also many sources of research data that are freely available online. Below is selection of these open access sources that are relevant to sociology. For a list of qualitative, or quantitative data sources, or if you need help with finding data, have a look at our guide to Finding Research Data.

Data sources

Below is a list of freely available data sources relevant to sociology. The library also subscribes to paid-for data sources, such as the UK Data Service, Mass Observation, OECDiLibrary and Statistica, available in the sociology A-Z databases list. For a list of qualitative, or quantitative data sources, or if you need help with finding data, please see Finding Research Data.

CIRI Human Rights Dataset
Standards-based quantitative information on government respect for a wide range of internationally-recognised human rights for countries of all regime-types and from all regions of the world. The data set contains measures of government human rights practices, not human rights policies or overall human rights conditions (which may be affected by non-state actors).
data.bris
University of Bristol Research Data Repository
Data.gov.uk
The UK government's statistical service
DataCite Commons
Aggregates dataset records from multiple sources and allows searching of general repositories via a single interface
Data.gov
U.S. Government open data, providing access to hundred of thousands of datasets from state and federal agencies
Data Portals.org
A comprehensive List of open data portals from around the world
Eurostat
Data from the statistical office of the European Union
figshare
An online open access repository of research outputs, including figures, datasets, images, and videos
General Social Survey
Nationally representative survey of adults in the United States conducted since 1972. The GSS collects data on contemporary American society in order to monitor and explain trends in opinions, attitudes and behaviours
Google dataset search
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
Harvard Dataverse
Research data from across research fields, from Harvard University, USA and beyond
HealthData.gov
Health data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Henry A. Murray Research Archive
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
HSRC Research Data Service
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) research data in support of evidence based human and social development in South Africa and the broader region
ICPSR - Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Microdata for social and economic research containing census and survey data from around the world
Mass-Observing COVID-19 database
Material collected by Mass Observation during the COVID-19 pandemic, including diaries and writing created during the pandemic by people living in the UK
Mass Observation Project Directives
Copies of Mass Observation Project Directives questions available for download. Responses are available on the Mass Observation Project in the A-Z databases list up to 2009: https://bristol.libguides.com/az/databases. Post 2009 responses can be obtained by emailing moa@sussex.ac.uk
National Statistical Offices
UN central repository of country profiles of statistical systems. The country profiles include, among others, a brief history of the country's statistical system, legal basis, the statistical programme and much more
Open Data Inception
2600+ Open Data Portals Around the World
Qualitative Data Repository
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
re3data
A registry of research data repositories. Browse by data type, country, subject
Sage Research Methods Datasets
Downloadable datasets sourced from government and academic sources with step-by-step guides that walk you through quantitative and qualitative data analysis
Social Trends
Social and economic data from a wide range of government departments and other organisations
UN Data
Economic, social and environment indicators for all countries from the United Nations Statistics division.

Finding Research Data

If you are looking for research data, check out our guide on Finding Research Data

Help with finding data

If you need help with finding data for sociology or politics and international studies, please email me at Catherine.Downs@bristol.ac.uk.