Statistics and Data in Public Affairs
Send comments and questions to Mary Beth Minick, SPEA Subject Librarian
Go to the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA)
You’re not going to take their word for it, are you? Research the numbers yourself!
FedStats
FedStats offers a wide range of official statistical information collected and published by more than 100 Federal agencies, and now made available to the public. This includes economic and population trends, education, health care costs, aviation safety, foreign trade, energy use, farm production, and more. You can also connect to demographic information by state, country, city, congressional district, or federal judicial district. NOTE: labor force and energy statistics are maintained by other agencies (see below) and are not, therefore, included with FedStats.
STATS Indiana
STATS Indiana is an information service of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. It contains a variety of useful statistics resources for the state of Indiana. This includes information about registered vehicles, taxes, agriculture, employment and many other topics.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor. BLS data must satisfy a number of criteria, including relevance to current social and economic issues, timeliness in reflecting today’s rapidly changing economic conditions, accuracy and consistently high statistical quality, and impartiality in both subject matter and presentation.
Energy Information Administration
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Their mission is to provide policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) was established as a statistical agency in 1992 to administer data collection, analysis and reporting, and to ensure the most cost-effective use of transportation-monitoring resources.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other agencies and private organizations. It is available online through the link above, or in paper at the Library Reference Desk.
Firstgov: Statistics at the State and Local Level
Firstgov offers, among a myriad of other services and resources, a good collection of links to data and statistics specific to states and localities.
University of Michigan Documents Center: Statistical Resources
The Documents Center is a central reference and referral point for government information, whether local, state, federal, foreign or international. Its web pages are a reference and instructional tool for government, political science, statistical data, and news. The Statistical Resources page is a great collection of resources for virtually any area of statistics related to public affairs. It is almost sinfully easy to navigate and use.
STAT-USA/Internet (U.S. Department of Commerce)
STAT-USA/Internet consists of two main databases:
1) State of the Union (SOTN)—use SOTN to gauge the direction of the U.S. economy and access a repository of economic indicators on topics such as employment, wholesale and retail prices, monetary and housing trends, gross domestic product, etc.
2) Global Business Opportunities (GLOBUS) & the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB)—these databases provide information discovered by U.S. officials in the field concerning export opportunities.
In response to user demand, STAT-USA/Internet also includes information from non-federal sources such as the Institute for Supply Management and Cantor/Fitzgerald, among others.
