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POLI 691H: Honors Seminar in Research Design: Selected Data & Statistics

Remember

You may not be able to find exactly what you'd like.  Be prepared to be flexible on one or more of your question elements.

Finding Data - Strategies

  • Define the specific elements of your question:  time, geography and subject matter.
  • Consider what organizations might pay for data collection on your topic.
    • government (international, national, state, local...)
    • trade associations
    • non-profits
    • academe (directly from a researcher or indirectly from a repository)
  • Read the literature for possible sources, but beware that sources noted in articles may not be openly available.
  • Will data be costly in terms of money or time to obtain?  Do you have the requisite knowledge to manipulate it?
  • Cite your data to make them easier for others to find.  (The linked site provides guidelines for how to format data citations.)

Data Links

Text Analysis Sources

Understanding Data

  • Read the technical documentation!
  • Consider the purpose for which data were collected, and their limitations.
  • Ask the experts (both about finding and understanding data).

Data Services Librarian

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Michele Hayslett
My pronouns are she, her, hers.
Contact:
Subjects
Data Management
Numeric Data
Census Data
Locating Data

If you would like to request we acquire data, please carefully read the guidelines at http://library.unc.edu/data/purchase/.

Website
Social: YouTube Page

Getting Help

Virtual Workshops

Library Data Services Events: data visualization software, web mapping, Census data, scripting

Odum Institute Short Courses: survey methodology, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, statistical computing (vary whether online or in person)