Selecting Statistics / Data
Social Work Selector's Toolbox
Gateways || Web Sites - U.S. Government Sources || Web Sites - Organizations || Web Sites - International
Gateways
FirstGov: Reference Data and Statistics http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Data.shtml
Basic gateway site to government statistics with links to core sites and departments within the U.S. federal government.
FedStats
http://www.fedstats.gov
Core site to statistics from over 100 Federal agencies, with access by topical areas, geographical areas, and by agency.
Social Work Almanac . 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press, 1995
Handbook of statistical data related to social work. Includes coverage of Demographic data, children, crime, education, health, mental illness, the aged, social welfare and professional issues in social work. Statistical information is dated, but the almanac still serves as a starting point to identify sources of statistics.
Statistical Handbook on the Social Safety Net by Fernando F. Padro. Westport, CT.: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Compilation of statistics on various social programs including social security, unemployment, health services, welfare programs, and women and children within the social safety net.
Statistics Sources , 28th ed., edited by Paul Wasserman. Farmington Hills, MI.: Thomson-Gale, 2005.
Two volume directory of national and international statistics arranged alphabetically by subject.
Web Sites - U.S. Government Sources
U.S. Bureau of the Census
http://www.census.gov
The Census Bureau site provides access to statistics through the American FactFinder link, through direct links to topical data, and through more specialized data analysis tools. Most census products are available online in PDF form. Some are available on CD-ROM or DVD. On the Census web site, click on Catalog to see the list of products offered.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/reference/index.shtml#statistics
The Health and Human Services Department's reference collections site provides links to statistics in major topical areas including adoption, child care, family assistance, TANF, substance abuse, health and medicine. Other links to data within Health and Human Services are listed below.
HHS Data Council Gateway to Data and Statistics
http://www.hhs-stat.net/
This site includes a datafinder search tool, meta directory of HHS data resources, and direct links to major surveys and data systems.National Center for Health Statistics.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
The National Center for Health Statistics is the major data gathering arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This site offers basic statistics as well as tabulated state data and micro-data access. The link to "Publications and Information Products" includes ordering information.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Research: Data http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf03/index.cfm
Within the HUD Online Library, the Research section provides links to data sets and tables on housing in general as well as HUD assistance programs.
U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
This site provides statistical data on crime & victims, law enforcement, offenders, courts & sentencing, corrections, as well specific data on drugs, firearms, etc.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov
The Bureau of Labor Statistics site includes massive amounts of data organized by categories such as industries, wages, occupations, employment, etc. More detailed statistics and data analysis tools are also available.
U. S. Government Printing Office Bookstore
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/
The statistics section of the GPO bookstore provides lists of items available for sale both in print and on CD-ROM.
U.S. House Ways and Means Committee: Green Book
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Documents.asp?section=813
The "Green Book" provides background material and detailed data on programs under the jurisdiction of the House Ways and Means Committee, including Medicare, Social Security, welfare, poverty, the elderly, and children and families.
U.S. Social Security Administration
http://www.ssa.gov/policy
The Social Security Administration's Office of Policy site offers annual and monthly statistical supplements, as well as fact sheets and public-use microdata files.
Web Sites - Organizations
Annie E. Casey Foundation - Kids Count
http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/
The Annie E. Casey Foundation compiles and publishes statistics on the status of children in the U.S. in its annual Kids Count volume. The data is available online and in print. The foundation web site also offers online databases and analytical tools.
Child Welfare League of America -- National Data Analysis System http://www.cwla.org/ndas.htm
The CWLA National Data Analysis System offers a comprehensive collection of child welfare data from federal, state and agency sources.
Children's Defense Fund -- Data
http://www.childrensdefense.org/data/default.aspx
This section of the Children's Defense Fund site includes national and state data in areas such as poverty levels, youth jobless rates, and No Child Left Behind underfunding.
ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research) http://www.icpsr.umich.edu
ICPSR maintains and provides access to a wealth of social science data available to members of the consortium. Special topic archives are included in ICPSR in areas such as aging, criminal justice, health and medical care and substance abuse and mental health.
Population Reference Bureau
http://www.prb.org/
PRB Library contains online data on population and health as well as information on ordering paper copies of their publications. The Datafinder section of this site offers detailed searching using many variables for national and international data.
Web Sites - International
United Nations Statistics Division
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/
The U. N. Statistics Division offers many online sources as well as publications in various formats available for sale.
Statistics Canada
http://www.statcan.ca/english/services/
Statistics Canada Products and Services lists data sources available online and in paper both free sources and those available for sale.
University of Michigan Statistical Resources on the Web Foreign Government Data Sources
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stforeig.html
The University of Michigan Statistical Resources site includes an extensive listing of international data sources, both comprehensive sites as well as individual country sites.
