Wolfgram Subject Guides: Database Tutorials: ICPSR

ICPSR: The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

Mission

ICPSR advances and expands social and behavioral research, acting as a global leader in data stewardship and providing rich data resources and responsive educational opportunities for present and future generations.

This consortium provides an archive of data sets for analysis in the social and behavioral sciences. Studies cover a wide range of disciplines, including education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, health care, economics and political science. Data collections consist of raw, unanalyzed data files, and codebooks. ICPSR data sets can be downloaded directly to a user's computer for use with statistical software such as SPSS or SAS.

One of the world’s oldest and largest social science data archives, includes:

10,500+ studies
77,000+ datasets
75,000+ data-related publications in a bibliography

Researchers can archive their data with ICPSR for free! Deposit Digital Data.

To Access

Access to ICPSR is limited to current students, faculty and staff at Widener University.

Navigate to ICPSR

Library Home Page ► A to Z Database List ►ICPSR

These resources were created especially for undergraduate faculty and students. They make it easy for instructors to set up data-driven learning experiences.

Data Instruction for Teachers
Includes links to YouTube Videos about Data Instruction for Undergraduates
Data Driven Learning Guides
These exercises introduce key concepts in the social sciences that guide students through a series of questions and related data analyses.
ICPSR YouTube Channel
Features Instructional Videos and Webinars on all aspects of ICPSR.
Data Related Publications
Features citations of works using data held in the ICPSR archive, including journal articles, books and government and agency reports.

Additional Learning Opportunities

Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research
Research Paper Competition

The ICPSR Summer Program in 2022 and beyond

The ICPSR Research Competition is an annual event open to undergraduate and graduate students and recent graduates. The competition seeks to highlight exemplary student research papers based on quantitative analysis of ICPSR data. Each of the four competition categories addresses a particular research topic and has specific eligibility requirements for entry. Awards include cash prizes and publication in the ICPSR Bulletin for first-place winners and on the ICPSR website for all winners.

2023 ICPSR Research Paper Competitions (Undergraduate & Master's categories)

For papers on any topic using data from the ICPSR General Archive or Thematic Collections.

Awards: $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place. There are separate undergraduate and master's prizes for this competition.

Eligibility:

Entrants must be current master’s or undergraduate students, or recent graduates who graduated on or after April 1, 2022. (Students who graduated before April 1, 2022, are not eligible.)
Entrants must be from ICPSR member institutions.
Entrants may be from the US or outside the US.

Submission Deadline: January 31, 2023 - Submit Form

ICPSR 2023 Research Paper Competition Flyer

New and Updated Data Releases

How to Search ICPSR

You must create a MyData Account in order to:

Download data sets and use online analysis tools
Generate utilization reports and download statistics
Access your past searches and downloads

To create an account: Select Login and under New User? click Create an Account. Complete the form using your Widener email address and a password that you can remember! Create Account symbol

Finding Data Sets:

Select Find Data
- Search Using Keywords, use the Thesaurus to find specific Social Science Terminology: Ex: eyewitness returns 154 studies
- Search the Variables tab in your results to get more specific data:
  - Searching for eyewitness returns 154 studies and 504 variables.
  - Searching for eyewitness reliability returns 85 variables and 4 variables (these include studies that have both these concepts included:)
    - Variables Results
      - 21. EYEWITNESS RELIABLE
      - 23. PHYSICAL VS. EYEWITNESS
      - 24. EYEWITNESS VS. PHYSICAL
      - 22. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE RELIABLE
- Browse by Thematic Collections, Geography, Series Data, Study, or Topic.

Topics Include:

Image of the United States

Census Enumerations

cartoon Image of people with signs

Mass Political Behavior
and Attitudes

Social Institutions
and Behavior

image of people tugging a rope

Conflict, Aggression,
Violence, Wars

cartoon image of book with international buildings

Community and
Urban Studies

Cartoon image of blue and red arrows

Economic Behavior and
Attitudes

Cartoon image representing education

Education

Cartoon image of hospital

Health Care and Facilities

Cartoon image of White House

Legislative and
Deliberative Bodies

Cartoon image representing external data resources

External Data
Resources

Select the Data-Related Publications tab after you select a study to obtain full-text articles, books and other resources that used that data set.
- Keywords: Eyewitness Reliability
- Study: National Survey of Eyewitness Identification Procedure in Law Enforcement Agencies, 1994-2012
- Data-Related Publication: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) A National Survey of Eyewitness Identification Procedures in Law Enforcement Agencies. NCJ 242617, Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.

Steps for downloading data:

Login to your ICPSR account
Select the Data and Documentation Tab.
Choose the dataset(s) in the study that you want.
Look at the notes to ensure the data is not restricted.
Select your desired data format (SPSS, SAS, etc.)
Once you select Download, the Terms of Use document will appear.
Before selecting Agree, read this document to ensure that the study and terms of use meet your needs.
After you click on agree, the datasets will be downloaded into a .zip file.
The tutorial below describes how to move the Zip file into SPSS.

Reading Data into SPSS