Search DSS

Finding Data: Data on Multinational/Crossnational

ACCESS TO THESE DATA FILES ARE RESTRICTED TO CURRENTLY ENROLLED/EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY.

• 10 Million International Dyadic Events
  News report events related to political retaliation, world news, economic change, and catastrophes.

  Citation:
  10 Million International Dyadic Events (Electronic File)
  Principal investigator: Gary King and Will Lowe.
  

• Arms Transfers to Developing Countries, 1945-1968
  Data on the transfer of arms to 52 developing nations. The Arms Transfers data (Part 1) provide information on donor and recipient, date and site of transfer, quantity, system classification (e.g., aircraft, helicopters, missiles, artilleries, small arms, or naval systems), and date production began and ended. The Weapons Systems data (Part 2) contain detailed coded information about each weapons system.

• Bank's Crossnational Time Series
  Covers economic, social, and political indicators of nations and empires of the world including, countries and empires that no longer exist. Select data goes back to 1815, and the most recent data is for 2002. Not all indicators are available for all countries or in all years (even years in which the country existed).

• Basic Sources of International Economic Statistics
  Guide to international economic macrodata available at Princeton University.

• Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
  Collaborative program of cross-national research among election studies conducted in over fifty states. The CSES is composed of three tightly linked parts: First, a common module of public opinion survey questions is included in each participant country's post-election study. These "micro" level data include vote choice, candidate and party evaluations, current and retrospective economic evaluations, evaluation of the electoral system itself, in addition to standardized sociodemographic measures. Second, district level data are reported for each respondent, including electoral returns, turnout, and the number of candidates. Finally, system or "macro" level data report aggregate electoral returns, electoral rules and formulas, and regime characteristics.

  Covers the United States as well as a number of European democracies, some in Latin America and the Carribean, and Asia.

• Comparative Survey of Freedom, 1972-1976
  Contains information gathered in 5 annual surveys that assessed the degree of freedom in 218 nations and dependencies. Was carried out under the auspices of Freedom House, New York City. The number of cases with data varies from year to year, due to annexation, amalgamation, or the addition of further territories to the roster. Data includes assessments of the political and civil rights of the general population (using a seven-point scale, i.e., 1, most freedom, to 7, least freedom), an overall freedom rating for the country (using a three-point scale, i.e, free, partly free, and not free), and the direction in which this rating appeared to be moving. Surveys after 1972 have added variables that indicate whether a change in the evaluation since the previous survey was due to internal events in the country or to new information about existing conditions. Before 1973, only the presence or absence of change is noted. Thereafter, an increase in the number of coding categories enables the direction of the change to be recorded. The 1976 data include 4 additional variables applicable to 142 cases and provide information about the system of government and the economy of most of the nations studied.

• Correlates of War (1816+)
  Quantitative data useful for studying international relations. Also includes war within political entities.

• Cross-National Indicators of Liberal Democracy (1950-1990)
  Collection of crossnational measures of political democracy containing over 800 variables for most of the world's independent countries. Political, social, and economic measures are available in the data file, and topics include adult suffrage, civil liberties, political rights, the openness, fairness, and competitiveness of the electoral process, executive and legislative selection and effectiveness, political party legitimacy, political participation, limitations on the executive branch of the government, level of democratization, economic openness, constitutional development, government legitimacy, and the outlook for freedom. A series of variables focuses on freedom and barriers to freedom, including freedom of peaceful assembly and association, mail censorship, women's rights, freedom of information and technology, freedom of political opposition, and freedom of the press. Compulsory membership in state organizations and political parties and compulsory religion in schools are addressed as well.

• Cross-National Statistics on the Causes of Death (1966-1974)
  Demographic statistics for the populations of 125 countries or areas throughout the world. Units of analysis are both country and data year. Includes statistics on approximately 50 types of causes of death for males, females, and total populations.

• Data Bank of Assassinations (1948-1967)
  Data on 409 assassination events that occurred in 84 countries. Covers plotted, attempted, or actual assassinations of prominent public figures, such as top government officeholders and military figures, leaders of large trade unions or religious movements, and leaders of minority groups. For each event, information is provided on the country, date, and location of occurrence, the issue involved, the identity of the assassin and of the target, such as the type of group to which the assassin belonged and the political and social position of the target, and the outcome of the event.

• Demographic and Health Surveys
  Used to evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Provides national and sub-national data on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections (STIs), infectious diseases, reproductive health and nutrition. Microdata is available free of charge by request. Data is available for:
  • Angola (2006)
    
  • Armenia (2000,2005)
  • Azerbaijan (2006)
  • Bangladesh (1993/94, 1996/97, 1999-2001, 2004, 2007)
  • Benin (1996, 2001, 2006)
  • Bolivia (1989, 1994, 1998, 2003)
  • Botswana (1988)
  • Brazil (1986, 1991, 1996)
  • Burkina Faso (1992/93, 1998/99. 2003)
  • Burundi (1987)
  • Cambodia (1998, 2000, 2005)
  • Cameroon (1998, 2001, 2004)
  • Central African Republic (1994/95)
  • Chad (1996/97, 2004)
  • Colombia (1986, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005)
  • Comoros (1996)
  • Congo (Brazzaville) (2005)
  • Cote d'Ivoire (1994, 1998/99, 2005)
  • Dominican Republic (1986, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2007)
  • Ecuador (1987)
  • Egypt (1988, 1992, 1995-1998, 2000, 2002-2005, 2008)
  • El Salvador (1985)
  • Eritrea (1995, 2002)
  • Ethiopia (2000, 2005)
  • Gabon (2000)
  • Ghana (1988, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006-2008)
  • Guatemala (1987, 1995, 1997-99)
  • Guinea (1992, 1999, 2005)
  • Guyana (2004, 2005)
  • Haiti (1994/95, 2000, 2005/06)
  • Honduras (2005)
  • India (19992/93, 1998/99, 2005/06)
  • Indonesia (1987, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2002-2003, 2007)
  • Jordan (1990, 1997, 2002, 2007)
  • Kazakhstan (1995, 1999)
  • Kenya (1989, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004)
  • Kyrgyz Republic (1997)
  • Lesotho (2004)
  • Liberia (1986, 2007)
  • Madagascar (1992, 1997, 2003/04)
  • Malawi (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
  • Mali (1987, 1995/96, 2001, 2006)
  • Mauritania (2000/01, 2003)
  • Mexico (1987)
  • Moldova (2005)
  • Morocco (1987, 1992, 1995, 2003/04)
  • Mozambique (1997, 2003)
  • Namibia (1992, 2000, 2006/07)
  • Nepal (1987, 1996, 2001, 2006)
  • Nicaragua (1997/98, 2001)
  • Niger (1992, 1998, 2006)
  • Nigeria (1990, 1999, 2003)
  • Nigeria (Ondo State) (1986)
  • Pakistan (1990/91, 2006/07)
  • Paraguay (1990)
  • Peru (1986, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004-2008)
  • Philippines (1993, 1998, 2003)
  • Rwanda (1992, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007)
  • Senegal (1986, 1992/93, 1997, 2005, 2006)
  • South Africa (1998, 2003)
  • Sri Lanka (1987)
  • Sudan (1990)
  • Swaziland (2006)
  • Tanzania (1992, 1994-96, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007)
  • Thailand (1987)
  • Togo (1988, 1998)
  • Trinidad and Tobago (1987)
  • Tunisia (1988)
  • Turkey (1993, 1998, 2003)
  • Turkmenistan (2000)
  • Uganda (1988, 1995/96, 2000/01, 2004, 2006, 2007)
  • Ukraine (2007)
  • Uzbekistan (1996, 2002)
  • Vietnam (1997, 2002, 2005)
  • Yemen (1991/92, 1997)
  • Zambia (1992, 1996, 2001/02, 2005)
  • Zimbabwe (1988, 1994, 1999, 2005/06)

• Determinants of Aid in the Post-Cold War Era
  Estimates the responsiveness of aid to recipient countries' economic and physical needs, civil/political rights, and government effectiveness. Looks exclusively at the post-Cold War era and use fixed effects to control for the political, strategic, and other considerations of donors. Finds that aid and per capita income have been negatively related, while aid has been positively related to infant mortality, rights, and government effectiveness.

• Dolphin: Data online for Population, Health & Nutrition
  Statistical resource containing selected current and historical country-level demographic and health indicator data.

• Education Statistics (World Bank)
  Worldwide data on education from national statistical reports, statistical annexes of new publications, and other data sources. Includes public expenditure data.

• EM-DAT : the International Disaster Database
  Essential core data on the occurrence and effects of over 12,800 mass disasters in the world from 1900 to present.

• Finding and Using Financial Data at Princeton University
  Comprehensive guide to financial data sources available at Princeton University.

• Foreign Conflict Behavior, 1950-1968
  Contains data on over 13,000 foreign conflict acts of 113 nations in the period 1950-1968. Data are provided for actor and object, either of which may refer to nations, colonies, international organizations, or groups in rebellion against national authority and involved in international relations. Data are also provided for official and unofficial acts, which are categorized into violent and nonviolent acts. Violent acts are further categorized into planned and unplanned acts, as well as unclassified acts. These include warning or defensive acts related to a developing conflict situation, threat, war, clash, or negative behavior such as blockade, embargo, or diplomatic rebuff of one nation by another. Nonviolent acts include boycott and anti-foreign demonstrations.

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Adult Population Survey Data Set, 1998-2003
  Designed to capture various aspects of firm creation and entrepreneurship across countries.

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM): Expert Questionnaire Data, 1999-2003
  Designed to capture various aspects of firm creation and entrepreneurship across countries. Seeks to measure the national attributes considered critical for new firm births and small firm growth.

  Sample Size: 4,685 experts from over 38 countries and 3 subnational regions: Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), and Taiwan.

• Global Terrorism Database II, 1998-2004
  Undertaken to address the fact that there is little robust empirical analysis of terrorism. The two primary reasons for this problem included insufficient temporal and spatial coverage of available data, and a lack of public availability of terrorism data. Due to this lack of available empirical data regarding terrorism, the researchers sought to code and verify a previously unavailable dataset composed of terrorist events recorded for the entire world from 1998 through 2004. The goal was to create a comprehensive and sound data set on global terrorism that can be used to derive methodologically robust insights into the phenomenon of terrorism and how to counter it. Not intended to be merged with the Global Terrorism Database, 1970-1997. The data being distributed in this data collection were collected using different methods and often different data definitions. Accordingly, the databases should not be used for direct comparison. Does not examine state terrorism.

• Global Terrorism Database, 1970-1997
  Composed of terrorist events recorded for the entire world from 1970 and 1997. The data were originally collected by the Pinkerton Global Intelligence Service (PGIS). Throughout the data collection period PGIS employed a broad definition of terrorism: the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation. The data include "terrorist groups" identified as specific named groups as well as generic groupings like "rebels" or "student protestors."

• ICPSR International Archive of Education Data (IAED)
  Preserves and disseminates education data. At the moment the primary focus of the archive is making data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) fully accessible. Important datasets include:
  
  • The Common Core of Data
    A comprehensive, annual, national statistical database of information concerning all public elementary and secondary schools (e.g., enrollment by grade, student characteristics, number of teachers) and school districts (e.g., number of students, number of high school graduates in the previous year).
  • Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)
    SASS is the nation's largest sample survey of the characteristics and conditions of America's public and private schools and the teachers and principals who work in them.
  • National Household Education Surveys (NHES)
    The NHES surveys cover learning at all ages, from early childhood to school age to adulthood. Surveys include adult education (1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003), early childhood program participation (1991, 1995, 1999, 2001), and parent and family involvement in education (1996, 1999, 2003) among others.
  • Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
    IPEDS is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all primary providers of postsecondary education. Study components include earned degrees/completions, Fall enrollment, Fall staff, finance statistics, institutional characteristics, and salaries, tenure, and fringe benefits of full-time instructional faculty.

• ICT Diffusion and Distribution Dataset, 1990-2007
  Contains 2 types of indicators for the global distribution of information, communication and technology (ICT) resources. Includes gini coefficients for the distribution of Internet access within countries, and a technology diffusion index that weights the distribution of broadband subscribers, personal computers, mobile phones, Internet users, and international Internet bandwidth by economic output.

• International Comparative Study on the Management, Productivity, and Effectiveness of Research Teams and Institutions (ICSOPRU), 1971-1989
  Aimed to improve the management of research teams and institutions and increase awareness of their responsibility concerning proper application of research results. Concrete objectives were twofold: (1) on the international level, to make widely available comparable facts and experiences concerning the management of research teams and to promote multilateral as well as bilateral cooperation in this field, and (2) on the national level to provide all those concerned (science policy-makers, research managers, scientists, engineers) with substantive information on the state of their national research potential and to encourage them, on the basis of this information compared eventually with similar information from other countries, to take self-corrective actions as needed to improve the level of effectiveness and productivity of the research teams and institutions. 17 countries from Africa, the Arab States, Asia, Europe and Latin America took part. There were 4 stages or rounds of data collection: 6 countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Sweden) in Round 1 (February-September 1974), 6 countries (Argentina, Egypt, India, Republic of Korea [South], Poland, Ukrainian S.S.R.) in Round 2 (June 1978-September 1981), 5 countries (Brazil, India, Nigeria, Spain, Ukrainian S.S.R.) in Round 3 (October 1981-November 1985), and 4 countries (China, Ghana, Hungary, Mexico) in Round 4 (May 1985- June 1987). Each round of questionnaires had different items (except for Rounds 2 and 3 which were the same). Round 1 items included general administrative information relevant to the research units answered by the administrator of the unit, scientific information on the research unit and information relevant to the unit's head answered by the head of the unit, individual information answered by scientists and engineers of the unit, individual information answered by technicians of the unit, and external evaluation of the research units from various scientific and administrative perspectives answered by external evaluators. Rounds 2 and 3 included general information about the research unit answered by the head of the unit, information on the respondent and his or her evaluation of the research unit's management, items on productivity and effectiveness answered by head of the unit along with scientists, engineers, and technicians of the unit, EV-rating of the research unit's effectiveness on a series of dimensions dealing with scientific or social criteria and administrative criteria answered by external evaluators. The 4th round of questionnaires included information on the institutional environment of the research unit answered by the head of the institution, general information on the research unit answered by the head of the unit, information on the respondent and his or her evaluation of the research unit's management, items on productivity and effectiveness answered by the head of the unit, scientists, engineers, and technicians.

• International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS) Series
  Most far-reaching program of standardized sample surveys to look at a householders' experience with crime, policing, crime prevention, and feelings of insecurity in a large number of nations. It also allows for analysis of how risks of crime vary among different groups of populations across social and demographic lines.
  • Wave 1 - 1989 - 17 cities or countries
  • Wave 2 - 1992 - 28 cities or countries
  • Wave 3 - 1996/1997 - 45 cities or countries
  • Wave 4 - 2000/2001 - 39 cities or countries
  • Wave 5 - 2004/2005 - over 35 cities or countries

  Sample Size: Generally, 1,000 - 2,000 households from each participating country.

• International Crisis Behavior Project (December 22, 1917 - December 31, 2004)
  Contains information on 445 international crises, 32 protracted conflicts, and 979 crisis actors from the end of World War I through 2004.

• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Datasets
  In collaboration with institutions throughout the world, IFPRI is often involved in the collection of primary data and the compilation and processing of secondary data. The resulting datasets provide a wealth of information at the local (household and community), national, and global levels. Includes geospatial data, household and community-level surveys, institution-level surveys, regional data, and social accounting matrices. Datasets must be requested from IFPRI.

• International Migration Flows to and from Selected Countries: The 2005 Revision
  Time series data on the flows of international migrants as recorded by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each file has a complete set of the data available for a given country in Excel format. The period for which data are presented varies from country to country. In a majority of cases, an effort has been made to cover the period 1960-2004. However, some countries lack data for the early 1960s and the most recent data available for some countries is 2003. For countries that were not major receiving countries in the 1960s (Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway and Spain), their time series start in 1980. Countries gathering and publishing statistics on the flows of international migrants do not use the same criteria to identify migrants nor do they classify them in similar ways in terms of origin. Each file in the contains several worksheets. The first worksheet contains data on immigration, the second worksheet contains data on emigration when available, and the third worksheet shows data on net migration, the difference between immigration and emigration when both series are available. Users should be aware of the problems of comparability underlying existing statistics.

• International Migration Statistics
  

• International Military Intervention (1946-2005)
  Updates International Military Intervention (IMI), 1946-1988. This newer study documents 447 intervention events from 1989 to 2005. To ensure consistency across the full 1946-2005 time span, the original coding procedures were followed. The data collection thus "documents all cases of military intervention across international boundaries by regular armed forces of independent states" in the international system). "Military interventions are defined operationally in this collection as the movement of regular troops or forces of one country inside another, in the context of some political issue or dispute". As with the original IMI (OIMI) collection, the 1989-2005 dataset includes information on actor and target states, as well as starting and ending dates. It also includes a categorical variable describing the direction of the intervention, i.e., whether it was launched in support of the target government, in opposition to the target government, or against some third party actor within the target state's borders. The intensity of the military intervention is captured in ordinal variables that document the scale of the actor's involvement, "ranging from minor engagement such as evacuation, to patrols, act of intimidation, and actual firing, shelling or bombing". Casualties that are a direct result of the military intervention are coded as well. A novel aspect of IMI is the inclusion of a series of variables designed to ascertain the motivations or issues that prompted the actor to intervene, including to take sides in a domestic dispute in the target state, to affect target state policy, to protect a socio-ethnic or minority group, to attack rebels in sanctuaries in the target state, to protect economic or resource interests, to intervene for strategic purposes, to lend humanitarian aid, to acquire territory or to dispute its ownership, and to protect its own military/diplomatic interests. The variable, civilian casualties, which complements IMI's information on the casualties suffered by actor and target military personnel has been added. OIMI variables on colonial history, previous intervention, alliance partners, alignment of the target, power size of the intervener, and power size of the target have been deleted.

• International Religious Freedom Data, Aggregate File (2001, 2003, 2005)
  Contains aggregate measures from the 2001, 2003, and 2005 U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Reports. This coding produced data on 196 different countries and territories but excluded the United States. Also includes 3 indexes calculated from these data: Government Regulation of Religion index, Social Regulation of Religion index, Government Favoritism of Religion index. Part of the Association of Religion Data Archives.

• Law, Finance and Development Indices, 1970-2005
  Examined the links between legal systems and economic development, focusing on the relationship between law and finance. New datasets were created, charting legal change over time in the areas of shareholder protection, creditor protection and labour regulation. Indices with up to 60 indicators were used to code for the law of five significant countries (France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) for 36 years (1970-2005), and reduced-form indices of 10-12 indicators to code for a wider sample (25 countries) for the period 1995-2005. Main topics covered include: law and finance, corporate governance, economic development, legal origin, comparative law, varieties of capitalism, shareholder protection, creditor protection, labour regulation, stock market development and labour market flexibility. To obtain a free account please register with the UKDA.

• Lijphart Elections Archive
  Static research collection of district level election results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries that was maintained through 2003.

• Migration and Remittances Factbook
  

• Millennium Development Goals Indicators
  Official data, definitions, methodologies and sources for the 48 indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

• Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project (1945+)
  Tracks 284 politically-active ethnic groups throughout the world -- identifying where they are, what they do, and what happens to them. Focuses specifically on ethnopolitical groups, non-state communal groups that have "political significance" in the contemporary world because of their status and political actions. Political significance is determined by: (1) The group collectively suffers, or benefits from, systematic discriminatory treatment vis-a-vis other groups in a society and (2) The group is the basis for political mobilization and collective action in defense or promotion of its self-defined interests.

• Occupational Wages around the World (OWW) Database
  Contains occupational wage data for 161 occupations in over 150 countries from 1983 to 2003.

• OECD Health Data
  Examines national health systems from 1960 forward for OECD member countries in a general, demographic, economic, and social context.

• Pattern of Human Concerns Data, 1957-1963
  Of the 14 nations included in the original study, these data cover the following 10: Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, India, Israel, Nigeria, Panama, United States, West Germany, and Yugoslavia. (The data for Egypt, Japan, the Philippines, and Poland are not available through ICPSR.) In India and Israel the interviews were conducted in 2 waves, with different samples. Besides ascertaining the usual personal information, the study employed a "Self-Anchoring Striving Scale," an open-ended scale asking the respondent to define hopes and fears for self and the nation, to determine the two extremes of a self-defined spectrum on each of several variables. After these subjective ratings were obtained, the respondents indicated their perceptions of where they and their nations stood on a hypothetical ladder at three different points in time. Demographic variables include the respondents' age, gender, marital status, and level of education.

• Pew Global Attitudes Project
  Worldwide public opinion surveys that encompasses a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world and important issues of the day. Topics have included views of Asian nations of each other, Muslims in Europe, images of the United States, the Iraq War, and foreign policy. Surveys include different nations and topics:
  • August 2001 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, United States)
  • April 2002 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, United States)
  • Summer 2002 (Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam)
  • November 2002 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Turkey, United States)
  • January 2003 (United States)
  • March 2003 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, United States)
  • May 2003 (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United States)
  • March 2004 (France, Germany, Great Britain, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, United States)
  • Spring 2005 (Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, USA)
  • Spring 2006 (China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, USA)
  • 2007 (Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela)
  • 2008 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States)

• Political Events Project, 1948-1965
  Contains data on 6,754 political instability events in 84 selected nations in the period 1948-1965. These data, which permit measurement of political instability and the correlates of internal conflict behavior, are concerned with conflict directed by groups and individuals in the prevailing political system against other groups or persons, and with uncovering the determinants of stability within all national political systems. The variables in the dataset are divided into four basic types: variables that identify events, classify events, describe events, and evaluate events. The study provides a conflict intensity rating for each event. Political instability events are classified from low to high and include institutionally prescribed elections, the fall of cabinets, martial laws, assassinations of significant group leaders, mass arrests, coup d'etats, and civil wars.

• Polity IV: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800-2008
  Contains information on and access to the most recent update of the well-known and highly respected Polity data series, originally designed by Ted Robert Gurr. Polity IV contains coded annual information on regime and authority characteristics for all independent states (with greater than 500,000 total population) in the global state system and covers the years 1800-2008.

• Polling the Nations
  Compilation of public opinion surveys conducted in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Each record includes the question asked and the responses given, the polling organization responsible for the work, the date the information was released, the sample size, and the groups or areas included in the interview.

• Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center
  Includes data collected by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and researchers about the nature of domestic and international terrorism incidents, organizations, perpetrators, and victims; governmental and nongovernmental responses to terror, including primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions; and citizen's attitudes towards terrorism, terror incidents, and the response to terror. It also organizes and streamlines access to extant research and administrative data from across the world that are relevant to the study of terrorism and the response to terrorism for descriptive and scientific analysis by academics and researchers.

• UNICEF Global Database on Breastfeeding Indicators
  

• United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation
  Country-level survey dealing with:
  • Firearm regulation, including issues of ownership, possession and use;
  • Manufacturing and trade;
  • Smuggling and other illegal dealings;
  • Demographic, accident and crime statistics;
  • Policy and public education initiatives;

  The survey instrument was distributed to Member States in 1996. The data is in a MS Access database. Data may also be used to compare social attitudes toward guns and gun control among countries.

  Sample Size: 78 countries.

• United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems
  Collects data on the incidence of reported crime and the operations of criminal justice systems with a view to improving the analysis and dissemination of that information globally. Results provide an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system to promote informed decision-making in administration, nationally and internationally. The surveys were started in 1977, covering 5-year intervals from 1970-1994. Starting in 1995 surveys cover 2 or 3 year intervals. Data may also be accessed through ICPSR.

• University of Rochester/Zogby International global religion survey
  Zogby International conducted interviews of 600 people each in India (Hindu, Muslim), Peru (Roman Catholic), Russia (Russian Orthodox), Saudi Arabia (Muslim), and South Korea (Buddhist, Christian); 593 in Israel (Jewish, Muslim, Druze); and 795 in the United States (Catholic, Protestant).

• Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) (1946+)
  Includes both internal and external armed conflicts.

• Urban and Rural Population by Age and Sex 1950-2005
  Estimates for 175 countries that had more than 300,000 inhabitants in 2005. Estimates are reported every 5 years for 1950-2005, by sex and by 5-year age groups.

• Voice of the People Series (2005+)
  Annual survey to solicit public opinion on social and political issues. Every year the survey will be conducted in approximately 50 countries, with a minimal sample size of 500 per country. Wherever possible, within each country a nationally representative sample n=500 adults, male and female, aged 18 and older will be used. In some emergent countries, where such research conditions are not possible, there may be stated variations to this (e.g. urban areas only). Similarly, in the developed world interviews will be conducted by telephone, while in emergent and under-developed countries face to face interviews will be conducted. Demographic variables include sex, age, household income, education level, employment status, and religious preference.

• Women in Development Series (1979-1980, 1983)
  Series of studies on women in development in 1970 with data drawn primarily from national censuses, surveys, statistical abstracts, and international statistical compendia. References are also made in some cases to evaluative studies conducted by individual researchers, research teams, and the staff of the International Demographic Data Center of the Bureau. These data constitute the most recently available information at the time of collection. The aim of this data series was to provide a reliable, up-to-date, accessible database on women in development which can illuminate the discrepancies in the roles and status of women against those of men throughout the world in order to serve as a basis for the promotion of both intranational and international parity between the sexes. The studies that comprise the Women in Development series consist of national-level data concerning female/male differentials over a range of demographic and socio-economic variables. Wherever possible, the data are broken down by age and urban/rural residence to facilitate further analysis. The series is cumulative and the data are presented in basic tabular format. Initially, the data tables were compiled for 69 developing nations from Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Near East that were recipients of the United States Agency for International Development aid. The first collection, Women in Development, 1979-1980 (ICPSR 8053), included all the aid-recipient nations regardless of population size. Subsequently, data were compiled for all remaining nations of the world with a population of five million or more, and statistics for the original nations were updated to reflect more recent information. The second collection in the series, Women in Development IV, 1983 (ICPSR 8155), covered approximately 120 nations from Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Near East, North America, Europe, and the Soviet Union.

• Women in Parliament, 1945-2003: Cross-National Dataset
  Information on women's inclusion in parliamentary bodies in over 150 countries from 1945 to 2003. Allows for extensive, large-scale, cross-national investigation of the factors that explain women's attainment of political power over time and provides educators with comprehensive international and historical information on women in a variety of political positions. Information is provided on female suffrage, the first female member of parliament, yearly percentages of women in parliaments, when women reached important representational milestones, such as 10 %, 20 %, and 30 % of a legislature, and when women achieved highly-visible political positions, such as prime minister, president, or head of parliament.

• World Database of Happiness: States of Nations
  Includes summary information from social surveys indicating levels of happiness in about 95 countries around the world, along with data on possibal causal factors.

• World Development Indicators
  Development indicators from the World Bank. Covers population, education, health, aid, poverty and environmental indicators for 208 countries.

• World Event/Interaction Survey (WEIS) Project, 1966-1978
  Record of the flow of action and response between countries (as well as non-governmental actors, e.g., NATO) reflected in public events reported daily in the New York Times from January 1966 through December 1978. The unit of analysis in the dataset is the event/interaction, referring to words and deeds communicated between nations, such as threats of military force. Each event/interaction is a daily report of an international event. Coded for each event are the actor, target, date, action category, and arena. Also provided are brief textual descriptions for each event.

  Sample Size: 98,043 events

• World Fertility Data (2006)
  Data on fertility and marriage for 192 countries. The indicators are selected in such a way as to present a concise picture of reproductive behavior from both period and cohort perspectives. The data are compiled from civil registration, population censuses and nationally representative sample surveys. The basic criterion for inclusion of data is its reliability. No attempts were made to estimate missing data. For each country, available data are presented for 2 dates. An earlier date was centered on 1970 and the most recent on 2000 or later. In cases where data for 1970 are not available, the closest date is selected from within the 1960-1985 period. For the later date, the most recent available estimate since 1986 is selected. Reference dates were chosen on the basis of two criteria: the database should contain most recent available data and the benchmark data that should correspond to the beginning of sustained fertility decline in most parts of the world.

• World Handbook of Aging and Social Security Indicators (1950-1980)
  Contains 184 variables prepared by the authors in connection with their comparative study of government support of the aged. The data is focused on indicators relevant to social security (social welfare) programs and to the health and welfare of the aged. Some variables have data on up to 131 nations, although most variables have data on fewer nations, as only a limited number of nations have social security data available.

• World Health Organization Statistical Information System
  Some useful datasets available here include:
  
  • Burden of Disease Project
  • Maternal Mortality
  • Country Estimates of Health Personnel

• World Income Inequality Database
  The UNU/WIDER World Income Inequality Database (WIID) collects and stores information on income inequality for developed, developing, and transition countries.

• World Marriage Data (2006)
  Contains data on marriage for 192 countries. Iindicators are selected in such a way as to present a concise picture of marital behavior from both period & cohort perspectives. Data are compiled from civil registration, population censuses and nationally representative sample surveys. The basic criterion for inclusion of data is its reliability. No attempts were made to estimate missing data. For each country, marital statuses and period indicators are presented for 2 dates. An earlier date was centered on 1970 and the most recent on 2000 or later. In cases where data for 1970 are not available, the closest date is selected from within the 1960-1985 period. For the later date, the most recent available estimate since 1986 is selected. Reference dates were chosen on the basis of two criteria: the database should contain most recent available data and the benchmark data that should correspond to the beginning of sustained fertility decline in most parts of the world.

• World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers [Trade] Series (1961-1993)
  Worldwide and regional annual totals of military spending.

• World Population Prospects (2004, 2006 revisions)
  Comprehensive set of demographic indicators for 1950-2050. Includes measures of fertility, life expectancy, migration, and measures of the impact of HIV/AIDS.

• World Public Opinion.org
  Program on International Policy Attitudes site providing public opinion from around the world.

• World Values Survey and European Values Survey. 1981-1984, 1990-1993, 1995-1997, 1999-2005.
  Designed to enable a crossnational comparison of values and norms on a wide variety of topics and to monitor changes in values and attitudes across the globe. A variety of questions on religion and morality were included. Data is currently available for 1981-1984, 1990-1993, 1995-1997, and 1999-2005.