jan10b.indd


C&RL News January 2010  16

There are myriad statistical sources avail-able on the Internet, however, it can 
be diffi cult to quickly locate the resources 
a researcher needs. To help make sense of 
this plethora of data, the EBSS Reference 
Sources and Services committee compiled 
a bibliography of online statistical resources 
in the subject areas of education, social 
work, gerontology, counseling psychology, 
and the general social sciences in Janu-
ary 2006. This bibliography became a wiki 
that is available at http://wikis.ala.org/acrl
/index.php/A_Statistical_Directory_for
_Education_%26_Social_Science_Librarians. 

Below are a selection of these core re-
sources that will prove helpful to librarians 
assisting researchers in need of statistical data. 
Most resources are starting points and include 
specialized reports and tools. Numerous 
people have been involved in the compila-
tion of these sources over the past several 
years, including Kate Silfen (who as chair of 
the committee instigated this project in 2006), 
Jim Jonas, Cheryl Ghosh, Scott Collard, Susan 
Ariew, and Adina Mulliken.

Education 
• Eurydice: The Information Network 

on Education in Europe. An information 
network developed by the European Com-
mission and member states, Eurydice gathers 
information and produces reports on educa-
tion within Europe. This resource provides 
descriptions of individual countries’ educa-
tion systems, data on education in Europe, 
and comparative studies of education in 

Europe. The user can browse publications 
by year of publication, title, topic, type, and 
language. Numerous statistical fi gures are 
included within the reports on this site. This 
site includes material in 11 languages. Ac-
cess: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/portal/page
/portal/Eurydice. 

• International Archive of Education 
Data (IAED). IAED, maintained by the 
Inter-university Consortium for Political and 
Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of 
Michigan, provides data fi les from a wide 
variety of international sources, including 
national, state, provincial or local, and private 
organizations. Some of the features of this 
site include accompanying links to related 
literature when available and links to numer-
ous other sites. Only member institutions of 
ICPSR have access to the data. The data is 
available as ASCII data fi les, for which users 
need to have access to a statistics package, 

Monique Andrews, Adis Beesting, Marija Freeland, Wendy Mann, 
Geoff  Morse, Pam Werre

Statistical sources
Online resources for education and social science librarians

Monique Andrews, Wayne State University, e-mail: 
ag3808@wayne.edu, Adis Beesting, Florida International 
University, e-mail: beesting@fi u.edu, Marija Freeland, 
University of Michigan, e-mail: mfreelan@umich.
edu, Wendy Mann, George Mason University, e-mail: 
w m a n n @ gm u. e d u,  G e o f f  M o r s e  N o r t hwe s te r n 
University, e-mail: gmorse@northwestern.edu, Pam 
Werre, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, e-mail: 
werrepa@mnstate.edu
© 2010 Monique Andrews, Adis Beesting, Marija Freeland, Wendy Mann, 
Geoff  Morse, Pam Werre

internet resources



January 2010  17 C&RL News

like SPS or SPSS. Access: http://www.icpsr.
umich.edu/IAED/.

• National Education Association. 
Provides both current and projected statistics 
for public K–12 schools on a local, state, and 
national level in its annual “Rankings and 
Estimates: Rankings of the States and Esti-
mates of School Statistics” report. Enrollment, 
attendance, salaries, per student outlay, and 
other statistics are provided at a state level. 
The “Status of the American Public School 
Teacher” report, published every fi ve years, 
includes statistics about public school teach-
ers in the United States including educational 
background, teaching experience, political 
leanings, etc. Access: http://www.nea.org/. 

• Open Doors Online. Produced by 
the Institute of International Education, the 
“Open Doors Report” contains data on both 
foreign students studying in the United States 
and U.S. students studying abroad. The 
“Open Doors Report” has been produced 
since 1948 and is available online dating back 
to 2001. Included are enrollment numbers, 
place of origin of International Students, 
Source of Funds for International Students, 
Visa Status, Sex, and Primary Function, Major 
Fields of Specialization, and Fields of Study by 
State among many others. The “Open Doors 
Report” also includes data on U.S. students 
studying abroad, including Leading Destina-
tions, Leading Institutions by Duration of 
Study Abroad and Carnegie Type, and U.S. 
Study Abroad Student Profi le. Access: http://
opendoors.iienetwork.org/.

• The National Center for Education 
Statistics (NCES). A federal entity within the 
Department of Education, NCES is charged 
by Congress to collect, analyze, and report 
on statistics describing the condition of 
education in the United States and in other 
countries. Among the many useful resources, 
four compilations of statistics are available: 
The Condition of Education (current condi-
tions and trends in education), The Digest 
of Education Statistics (often the best place 
to start a search for a statistic on American 
education), Indicators of School Crime and 
Safety, and Projections of Education Statistics 

(ten-year projections of education statis-
tics). Specialized Demographics and School 
Populations resources included in NCES are 
described separately in this article. Access: 
http://nces.ed.gov/.

Demographics and school populations
• Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS is a primary 
resource for postsecondary education statis-
tics. Data available include admissions, tuition 
rates, enrollment numbers, race/ethnicity of 
students, graduation rates, and amount of stu-
dent fi nancial aid. The Data Center provides 
detailed information on individual institutions 
and allows comparison between universities. 
The Tables Library section allows the user to 
view and download aggregated data on the 
state and national level. The Publications tab 
contains data products, reports, and working 
papers and is a rich source of demographic 
data for postsecondary education. Access: 
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/.

• School District Demographics Sys-
tem (SDDS). This user-friendly site provides 
detailed demographic data on school districts 
throughout the United States as compiled 
from Census data and the American Commu-
nity data survey. Featured tools on this site are 
Snapshot Reports, Map Viewer, and School 
District Profi le Comparisons. The Snapshot 
Reports are detailed reports for geographic 
areas with populations over 65,000 and in-
clude demographic data on school popula-
tion, English language learners, IEP students, 
teachers, schools in the district, and high 
school graduates. Race, income, occupation, 
and employment data are included in the 
profi les as well as fi nancial data for school 
districts including revenue and expenditures. 
The Map Viewer provides school district maps 
for states and individual school districts. The 
School District Profi le Comparison tool al-
lows users to compare school districts over 
a span of years. Access: http://nces.ed.gov
/surveys/sdds/.

• Schools and Staffi ng Survey (SASS). 
SASS surveys personnel in public, private and 
Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools in 



C&RL News January 2010  18

the 50 states and the District of Columbia to 
track school trends on a national basis. Key 
demographic reports include data on the 
numbers of students, principals, school media 
centers, and teachers in public, private, and 
BIE elementary and secondary schools. Ac-
cess: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/.

• State Education Data Profi les. Users 
may compare up to four states on key educa-
tional data, including demographics, fi nances, 
enrollment, public libraries, and postsecond-
ary education. The state data profi les gener-
ated in the comparison include data on the 
number of schools, students, teachers, pupil/
teacher ratio, revenues, expenditures, and 
National Assessment of Educational Progress 
scores. Access: http://nces.ed.gov/programs
/stateprofi les/.

• UNESCO Institute for Statistics 
(UIS). Self-described as “the fi rst stop for 
education data from around the world,” 
UIS is the premier place to locate inter-
national education statistics. The Data 
Centre includes country comparison 
tables and supports the functionality to 
create customized country tables. Key 
educational demographic data is included 
in the country tables and in many of the 
reports and publications available on this 
site. Access: http://www.uis.unesco.org
/ev_en.php?ID=3753_201&ID2=DO_TOP-
IC.

• U.S. Census Bureau: School Enroll-
ment. This site contains national school 
enrollment data as collected by the Census 
Bureau annually in the Current Popula-
tion Survey (CPS). National school enroll-
ment data includes statistics on school 
population, race/ethnicity, graduation rates, 
educational attainment, and college en-
rollment. Current and historical data are 
included. Access: http://www.census.gov
/population/www/socdemo/school.html.

Psychology 
• Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention Mental Health Work Group: 
Data and Statistics. Reports data from the 
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 

(BRFSS), which can be used to build tables to 
review nationwide or state trends from 1993 
to 2007; on health-related quality of life; and 
from the annually conducted National Health 
Interview Survey (NHIS), which has data on 
mental health and psychological stress mea-
sures. Many of the data from these special 
reports are around ten years old. Access: 
http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/data.htm.

• Childstats.gov. Compiled by the Federal 
Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statis-
tics, this site serves as a portal to an assortment 
of data on children and families reported by 
22 different government agencies. “America’s 
Children: Key National Indicators of Well-
Being” is an annual online publication of the 
Forum. Users can view the full report or scan 
through its highlights. In addition to demo-
graphic statistics, data are available on topics 
such as emotional and behavioral diffi culties, 
health care, family and social environment, 
and more. Access: http://childstats.gov. 

• National Center for Health Statistics 
(NCHS) FastStats: Mental Health. This easy-
to-use Web site provides simple access to 
basic mental health statistics. The More Data 
section includes statistical surveys and pub-
lications like Depression in the United States 
Household Population; access to the mental 
health trend tables from Health, United States; 
and more. Data sets are available for down-
loading and searching. Access: http://www.
cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mental.htm.

• National Institutes for Mental Health: 
Statistics. This site is useful for the researcher 
who needs to perform a quick look up. Sci-
ence News about Statistics features press 
releases that contain statistics on mental ill-
ness from government sources and periodical 
articles. Publications about Statistics high-
lights online publications on mental health 
statistics such as “The Numbers Count: Mental 
Disorders in America.” This site contains 
good summary information and fact sheets. 



January 2010  19 C&RL News

Access: http://mentalhealth.gov/health/topics
/statistics/. 

• SAMHDA Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Data Archive. Hosted by 
the Inter-University Consortium for Social 
and Political Research (ICPSR), SAMHDA 
contains raw data-sets from SAMHSA, co-
debooks, survey instruments, and tutorials. 
Popular data sets are listed on the top page, 
and users can also search across SAMHDA 
and ICPSR data sets for more. Information 
on the SAMHDA site is publicly available, 
but some ICPSR data requires member-
ship. If printed reports are needed, use 
SAMHSA’s OAS site, or most of the other 
resources mentioned in this section. Access: 
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/SAMHDA/. 

• SAMHSA’s National Mental Health 
Information Center (NMHIC): Center 
for Mental Health Services (CMHS): 
Mental Health Statistics. Includes Mental 
Health United States for 2000–2004 and 
statistics on mental health services offered 
in the United States. Also available are out-
put tables of the Center for Mental Health 
Services (CMHS) Uniform Reporting Sys-
tem, Characteristics of State Mental Health 
Agency Data Systems and Projections of 
National Expenditures for Mental Health 
Services and Substance Abuse Treatment, 
2004–2014. Related Links takes you to a 
directory listing of mental health statistics 
from other programs and organizations. 
Access: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov
/cmhs/MentalHealthStatistics/.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration (SAMHSA) Of-
fice of Applied Studies: Substance Abuse 
and Mental Health Statistics. SAMHSA 
collects and reports the majority of mental 
health statistics for the United States, and 
its Offi ce of Applied Statistics site includes 
data on tobacco, alcohol, and drug use 
in addition to mental health statistics. 
Includes reports on the population suf-
fering from psychological distress as well 
as data on mental health treatment. Short 
reports created from surveys, such as the 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 

and complete access to data sets from the 
OAS Data Systems are included. Access: 
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/. 

• World Health Organization (WHO): 
Mental Health Atlas. WHO collects and 
reports statistics on well-being, mental 
health and neurological disorders from 
around the world. Global and regional 
reports, country profi les, and data on men-
tal health law, policy, mental health care 
professionals and resources by country 
are available. Availability of mental health 
disorder statistics will vary from country 
to country. The atlas provides informa-
tion on where to get more detailed data 
for nations which collect mental health 
statistics. Access: http://apps.who.int
/globalatlas/default.asp. 

Gerontology
• AARP Research Center. Surveys and 

Statistics includes the results from AARP’s 
own polls on aging topics and reports 
compiled from data from national and 
state agencies making the data available 
as briefs. Access: http://www.aarp.org
/research/.

• Administration on Aging (AOA). 
Using federal statistical sources such as 
U.S. Bureau of the Census, the National 
Center on Health Statistics, and the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, AOA compiles several 
“aging statistics.” Included are the Profi le 
of Older Americans, Aging Integrated Da-
tabase (AGID), Census Data and Popula-
tion Estimates, Projected Future Growth of 
Older Population, Minority Aging, and Key 
Indicators of Well-Being. Access: http://
www.aoa.gov/.

• Aging Integrated Database (AGID). 
Provides tables and geographic characteris-
tics that detail expenditures on services to 
older Americans as required by the Older 
Americans Act. Statistical information on 
caregivers, senior centers, abuse preven-



C&RL News January 2010  20

tion, and more are available. Access: http://
www.agidnet.org/.

• Agingstats.gov. Provided by a forum of 
federal agencies, this resource includes Older 
Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well Being,
health care and health risks for older Ameri-
cans data, and access to reports on Retirement 
Resources, focusing on economic resources of 
the U.S. population nearing age 65. Access: 
http://www.agingstats.gov/.

Social work
• Administration for Children and 

Families. An agency within the Department 
of Human Services, ACF includes policy and 
planning links to several statistical reports 
including statistics on adoption/foster care, 
Head Start programs, and child abuse. Access: 
http://www.acf.hhs.gov.

• Childinfo.org. Sponsored by UNICEF, 
this site includes basic international statistics 
on issues such as HIV/AIDS, education levels, 
and infant mortality. UNICEF’s online publica-
tions “The State of the World’s Children” and 

“Progress for Children” are also available. Ac-
cess: http://www.childinfo.org/.

• Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). 
Provides reports, charts, studies, and more in 
the topic areas of child poverty, child health, 
and education. Much of the data retrieved is 
found in the online report from CDF, “The 
State of America’s Children.” Access: http://
www.childrensdefense.org/. 

• National Data Archive on Child 
Abuse and Neglect. Maintained by Cornell 
University, data archived on child welfare and 
maltreatment allows for secondary analysis. 
Nearly all data sets are free. Access: http://
www.ndacan.cornell.edu/.

• National Juvenile Court Data Ar-
chive. Part of the Offi ce of Juvenile Justice 
and Delinquency Prevention, data sets 
are provided for analysis and include the 
Census of Juveniles in Residential Place-
ment as well as online publications giving 
summaries through the Statistical Briefi ng 
Book. Access: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb
/default.asp. 

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