Political Science

Definitions

Data are facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. 

Statistics refers to the analysis or products of analysis of data.

For example, if we had a spreadsheet of information about every person in a class -- names, majors, home towns, height, eye color, etc. -- that would be data. If we analyzed that data to find the average height or most common name, those would be statistics.

Statistics

The resources listed below are just a few ways to access data and statistics that may be relevant to political science research. See the Statistical and Data Resources guide for more information.

Data - United States

Data - International

For more international resources, consult the International Studies research guide.