Guides: ECB 313: Econometrics: Find Sources

Raw Data Sources

National Center for Health Statistics
Offers downloadable public-use data files (data sets, documentation, and questionnaires) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) FTP file server.
IMF Data
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
UNdata
UNdata is an internet-based data service which brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point.
Data.gov
The home of the U.S. Government’s open data. Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
The World Bank
World Bank Open Data provides free and open access to global development data.
Open Access Directory of Data Repositories
A list of repositories and databases for open data

Data Sources

Statista
Statistics portal integrating statistics and other quantitative data on over 60,000 topics including media, business, finance, politics, and more.
CIA World Factbook
he World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.

International Financial Statistics (IFS) This link opens in a new window
International and domestic finance data going back to 1948. All first-time users of the database must create an account. In the box titled “My Data,” click on the “Sign in or Register” link to create an account. After signing in, to access the IFS database look for the “Query within a Dataset” box on the left side of the IMF eLibrary page, and select the“International Financial Statitics (IFS)” link.
Census Bureau Data This link opens in a new window
Search for population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. New streamlined platform offers direct access to information all in one place.
Formerly called American Factfinder

US Government Data Sources

Bureau of Economic Analysis
BEA produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the Nation's economy.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
USDA National Agriculture Statistical Service
USDA National Agriculture Statistical Service provides access to data on agriculture.

Available through Boston Public Library

All Massachusetts residents and students can sign up for a Boston Public Library ecard and access ebooks and databases, including the statistical databases listed below.

Boston Public Library
All Massachusetts residents can register for a BPL ecard to access all of Boston Public Libraries resources! Once you sign up for a BPL eCard you can access some of their public databases for further research.
BPL- Statistical Abstract of the US
Published annually by the Federal Government since 1878, The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the best-known statistical reference publication in the country, and perhaps, the world. Access using your Boston Public Library ecard.
BPL- Statistical Insight
Indexes U.S. Federal statistics (1973-present), state government and business statistics (1980-present), and international statistics (1880-present). Access using your Boston Public Library ecard.
Harvard Dataverse
Harvard Dataverse is a repository for research data.

students reading in front of periodical display

Also known as peer-reviewed articles, scholarly articles are sources that are:

written by experts in the field
reviewed by other experts in the field (hence the peer-reviewed)
intended for an academic audience

While you can find scholarly articles through general search engines, databases contain a feature where you can narrow your results to only scholarly articles.

Find Subject-Specific Articles:

Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Scholarly business journals and publications covering marketing, management, accounting, finance and economics. Business Source Premier also includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
Leadership and Management (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to authoritative periodical content covering topics such as 21st-century skills, organizational dynamics and leadership, adult learning and continuing education, and more.
NBER Working Papers This link opens in a new window
The NBER working paper series includes over 1000 papers each year, authored by leading research economists, on a wide variety of topics. These papers are circulated prior to publication for comment and discussion. Includes more than 24,000 papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases:

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers access to resources cited in key subject indexes. The combination of academic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books and videos meets the needs of scholars in virtually every discipline ranging from astronomy, anthropology, biomedicine, engineering, health, law and literacy to mathematics, pharmacology, women’s studies, zoology and more.
Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. Includes extensive coverage in key subject areas such as biology, chemistry, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.

Data Sources

Census Bureau Data This link opens in a new window
Search for population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. New streamlined platform offers direct access to information all in one place.
Formerly called American Factfinder
International Financial Statistics (IFS) This link opens in a new window
International and domestic finance data going back to 1948. All first-time users of the database must create an account. In the box titled “My Data,” click on the “Sign in or Register” link to create an account. After signing in, to access the IFS database look for the “Query within a Dataset” box on the left side of the IMF eLibrary page, and select the“International Financial Statitics (IFS)” link.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statistics portal integrating statistics and other quantitative data on over 80,000 topics including media, business, finance, politics, and more.

Student thumbing through a book in front of library stacks

Books and eBooks often provide a broader overview and cover more information than a scholarly journal article.

You don't need to read an entire book to use it in your research. Use the index at the back of a book to find the information you need.

To find books and eBooks, you can either:

Search the NOBLE catalog

NOBLE Catalog Search
Search the Jenks Library catalog for books, eBooks, audiobooks, scores, etc.

Browse the stacks for a book related to your topic

HA 1-4737 Statistics

HB 1-3840 Economic Theory, Demography

Forming your Search String

The more complicated your question, the less likely a search engine can understand it. To get the best result, identify keywords and like terms to create a search string.

Example research question: How does observance of Muslim holy days impact economic growth in Muslim-majority countries?

Keywords: Muslim holy days, economic growth, Muslim-majority countries

Like terms can include synonyms and also examples of your keywords. If you don't get results from searching your keywords, it doesn't mean that the research doesn't exist. It could mean that the researcher used different language to describe the same topic

Muslim holy days: Islamic feasts, Ramadan, Eid al-Adha
Economic growth: financial growth, GDP
Muslim-majority countries: Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey

Search strings connect your keywords and like terms together for the best results.

Too many results? Use AND to narrow results

Muslim holy days AND economic growth AND Islamic countries

Too few results? Use OR to broaden results

Muslim holy days OR Ramadan AND economic growth OR GDP AND Islamic countries OR Muslim-majority countries OR Qatar

If you find an article or book that you can't access, don't pay for it! Instead, submit an Interlibrary Loan request, and you'll receive articles within a few days!

Interlibrary Loan: Article & Book Request
Can't find the article or book you're looking for at Gordon? Fill out the Interlibrary Loan request form and we'll track the article or book down for you!

Are you looking for a specific article, like an article that you found referenced in a bibliography? Search for the journal in Journal Finder, linked below:

Browse Journal Finder
Find individual journals and search within specific publications.

ECB 313: Econometrics

Chicago Format for Citing Datasets

Raw Data Sources

Data Sources

US Government Data Sources

Available through Boston Public Library

Find Subject-Specific Articles:

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases:

Data Sources

To find books and eBooks, you can either:

Forming your Search String