USC Professors and other researchers obtain data from agencies around the world, and often make these data bases available to any USC researchers that might need to use them. They might be stored on UNIX disk, on CD-ROM, or by other methods that allow access by many users.

The purpose of this Web page is to guide researchers to these data bases and provide contact information that will help them use the data in their research.

This information tree is maintained by Gerald Jones, ITS Customer Services Consultant. Please click <> if you have feedback or questions, or call 213.740.5555. We are especially interested to hear from researchers who have publicly-available data bases that are not yet listed here. Your cooperation will be appreciated by many people, you can be sure.

Please note that ITS did not originally acquire most of these data bases. In many cases, they were obtained by departments or individuals and later transferred to ITS storage. We cannot vouch for their completeness or accuracy, and we cannot promise that those who do maintain the data will be available for assistance or information. Also, in rare cases there may be nominal charges associated with the use and processing of data, even though such charges may not be noted in this 'clearinghouse'.

ICPSR Data Files

• ICPSR -- Listing of data bases from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
  • Business, Economics, Employment
  • Elections; Voting; American National Election Studies (NES)
  • European Communities Studies
  • GSS -- The General Social Survey
  • Health, Nutrition, Medicine
  • American Housing Surveys (AHS) and other Housing Studies
  • Immigrant Studies
  • Military Studies
  • Occupations, Careers
  • Political Science, Foreign Policy
  • Polls
  • Youth and Family Studies
  • Other Studies
• PUMS -- Public Use Microdata Sample (U.S. Census) 1% data (1990) and 5% data (1980 and 1990)
• Other Census Bureau Studies
• Current Population Surveys (see also Pop Lab CPS holdings below)

  Direct Access to ICPSR Data Holdings from USC Machines

  USC faculty, students and staff now have direct access to many of the data holdings at ICPSR. The following access instructions are from their official brochure, "ICPSR Direct: Instant Access to Data":

  With direct access, obtaining the data you need is quick and easy. Go to the ICPSR Web site at www.icpsr.umich.edu/ and conduct a data search. Once you have identified a dataset of interest, click on the Download button on the Browse/Download page. If your campus is currently participating in ICPSR Direct, you will see a page describing conditions of data use and procedures for getting help in using the data. You will then be asked to complete a short, one-time survey that will help us track usage on your campus. Now you are ready to download your dataset and begin your research.

  Remember that a large number of data sets are already stored here at USC, so you should probably check the ICPSR listings (accessed through the links just above) before taking the trouble to download from ICPSR over the Web.

  Remember also that many data sets stored at the ICPSR site are compressed. For information on how to uncompress data sets, as well as suggestions about codebooks and other types of files stored in ICPSR studies, click Here.

  Questions about direct access to ICPSR holdings may be directed to <socscidl@usc.edu>, the eMail address of the Social Science Data Lab which coordinates USC's membership in ICPSR and is the Official Representative (OR) for ICPSR data here.

The Population Research Laboratory

The "Pop Lab" is located Room B52 of the Allan Hancock Foundation Building at 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles CA 90089-0377, 213.740.6265. This Laboratory is jointly sponsored by the Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies, College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and by the School of Policy, Planning and Development.
• CPS -- the Current Population Survey data bases.

Census data files and information are available in several locations around the University (and around the Net).
• Census 2000 at ICPSR -- data, programs, information
• California Census Data -- 1980, 1990 and Atlas files
• Other Census Files at USC
• PUMS (Public Use Microdata Sample) 1% and 5% data
• CPS -- the Current Population Survey data bases.
• Census Bureau Web Home Page
• IPUMS Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample, U of Minnesota

USC LibraryGovernment Documents Web Page

The USC Library maintains a number of CD-ROM Data Bases in the Government Documents section of VKC Library (aka The Applied Social Sciences Library).

Various Data Bases Available at USC (some included in lists above)

• AHS The American Housing Survey

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• CPS The Current Population Survey

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• CRSP Center for Research in Security Prices

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• COMPUSTAT Standard and Poor's CompuStat

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• GSS -- The General Social Survey

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• OSHPD Data from the (California) Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development

Data and Information Sources outside USC

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan
• ICPSR Web Home Page
  
• Direct Web Access to ICPSR data (for USC users only) --
  see above under "ICPSR Data Files"

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The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
(limited to USC IP connections only)
• Wharton Research Data Services
• List of Data Sets Available to USC Users

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iPoll (Roper Center) available through Lexis-Nexis
(limited to USC IP connections only)
• iPoll
• Catalog of Resources Available at the Roper Center

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Euromonitor (limited to USC IP connections only)
• World Marketing Data and Statistics

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The California Health and Welfare Net
• OSHPD Home Web Site --The (California) Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development

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Miscellaneous
• Statistics and Social Science Data -- the GeoStat Center at the University of Virginia Fisher Library.
  
• Electronic Data Service at Columbia University in The City (New York)
  
• Statlab Data Resources at Yale University
  
• Finding Data on the Internet -- a USC Web search page maintained by ITS Librarians
  
• ITS's"Dealing With Data" workshop syllabus and schedule

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