Finding Data: Quick Tips & Search Strategies

1.  Many agencies and organizations have data and statistics available on their websites. 

2.  Some sites may require use of the search box on the agency website.  Enter a few keywords in the search box.  You may need to scroll through several citations to find what you need.

3.  Some sites will have tabs and headers which make the data pages easy to find.  Start by looking at the top page headers or by clicking the menu bar if offered. Look for terms such as data, statistics, or reports.  The "About" section may prove helpful too.

4.  Tools used to download or generate data will probably be specific to each site, unless there is an overarching agency (e.g., the Census).

1. The suggested strategies work using search engines, databases, and library discovery tools.  For databases, many will suggest additional terms once you begin to enter your terms.

• education* policy "united states" [or country of preference] 
• poverty levels data 
• disability statistics
• carbon emissions statistics

2. When using an internet search engine (e.g., Google, Bing, etc.) it may be helpful to add a web extension to the end of search to limit content from certain agencies/organizations:

• site:.edu  -- limits to educational institutions
• site:.org -- draws in non-profits 
• site:.gov -- limits to governmental sites (US & other)
• site:.com -- commercial/trade

To obtain demographic data in Tables from Social Explorer:

1. Click on Tables
2. Select either Decennial Census, ACS or U.S. Religion Data (RCMS)
3. Select the most recent year
4. Click “Begin Report”
5. Select the type of geographic report
6. Select the desired geographic region
7. Click “Proceed to Tables”
8. Select the desired data elements and add (to select multiple elements press and hold the control key)
9. Click “show results “
10. Data can be displayed to screen in EXCEL or downloaded in a variety of file formats.

1.  TOPIC (e.g., Income & Poverty) offers quick access to data sets and tables.  Select the subtopic of interest as needed or review left sidebar options for the data of interest. The left sidebar links will change based upon the types of data available for the particular subtopic (if selected).

2.  Data & Maps offers pre-configured geographic profiles and maps, or basic user-created data tables and maps filtered by criteria such as Codes (e.g., industry codes, etc.), Geography (e.g., region or county, etc.), Surveys (e.g. Census or American Community, etc.), Topics, Years.

3.  Surveys & Programs allows users to select a specific survey from which to draw data.  Comparisons can be fairly granular depending upon the number of criteria used to create tables.  For example comparisons can be made between geographic regions such as state to state or within a state, several counties. Users are advised to review descriptions and definitions offered for each type of survey.  Within a specific survey, data points may not have been captured in prior or succeeding years.