Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
(ICPSR) Off-campus access


INTRODUCTION

Brandeis University is a member of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
ICPSR

  • was established in 1962,
  • is the world's largest archive of computerized social sciences data and surveys,
  • covers a broad range of disciplines,
  • allows students, faculty and staff at Brandeis to download ICPSR data and documentation from both on and off campus.

ICPSR provides numeric raw data for analysis. If you are looking for statistical publications, reports or ready-made tables or statistics, consult the Brandeis Libraries Guide to Key Statistical Sources.

SEARCHING OPTIONS

Searching Options at a Glance
Quick Search
 Browse by:
 Advanced Search
Search for a known dataset by:
  • Title
  • Study #
  • Investigator
 Access data by Broad Subject Categories
 Obtain Focused Results by:
  • Phrase searching
  • Limited Boolean
  • Field limits

Tips:

  1. You can specify that your search be processed as a "phrase" instead of just "words" in the drop-down menu. This will narrow your search.
  2. Do not use an asterisk to search for word stem variations, since this is done automatically.
  3. You can restrict your search to a particular field by choosing the drop-down menu options. For a more general search, use in "any field." For a more specific search, try "title" field.
  4. To search by study number, omit leading zeroes.
  5. Use "ICPSR Controlled Vocabulary System, " which provides guidance on alternative subject terms as well as personal and geographic names.

CONNECTING FROM OFF-CAMPUS

For off campus access, please read our instructions for "Connecting from Off Campus."

HELP

Brandeis' ICPSR representative is Ralph Szymczak.  For help with locating ICPSR data or documentation, contact Ralph at x64673 or e-mail at: szymczak@brandeis.edu

For help with downloading or other technical matters, contact Jason Bernard at x64740 or e-mail at: jbernard@brandeis.edu 

You may also obtain Help directly from ICPSR. 

OTHER DATA SITES

CESSDA PORTAL - Council of European Social Science Data Services
Provides a gateway to data archives around the world.

General Social Survey
The GSS is an "almost annual" personal interview survey of U.S. households conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). The first survey took place in 1972 and since then more than 35,000 respondents have answered thousands of different questions. "The mission of the GSS is to make timely, high-quality, scientifically relevant data available to the social science research community." PAGE LOADS SLOWLY.

Social Science Data on the Internet
(University of California, San Diego)
Search extensive listing of internet sites of numeric social science statistical data, data catalogs, data libraries, gateways, and data ready to download.

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
Leading educational facility and archive of survey data in the field of public opinion.

Other Data Sites
From ICPSR. 

SPSS Home Page
Technical support as well as links to statistical resources on the Web.
http://www.spss.com/

This page was last modified on: May 14, 2008