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Finding Data: Data on Women & Gender

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• Afghan Women's Resistance and Struggle in Afghanistan and Diasporic Communities, 2004-2005
  Aimed to develop a better understanding of Afghan women's resistance to war and violent conflicts; their engagement with multiple worlds as refugees or living in exile, their struggle for survival and/or their acquisition of new knowledge and power. Investigated the vast diversity (class, age, ethnicity, religion) of women's experiences in the process of historical changes (in times of war and conflict, in exile and in times of peace making) and the different ways they emerge as autonomous agents and construct their identities, in culturally specific circumstances. Assessed the gendered nature of social exclusion, and the importance of women's inclusion in the processes of reconstruction and peace making. Semi-structured interviews were used to study Afghan women (and some men) in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, UK and USA. Respondents were chosen to represent a sample of diverse groups (students, teachers, non-Governmental Organisation workers, United Nations workers, journalists, women and men in refugee camps) according to their religiosity, ethnicity, age, marital status, fertility rate, class, citizenship status, employment status and political, social and cultural activities. Detailed demographic information about each respondent is recorded in the data listing. To obtain a free account please register with the UKDA.

• Female/Genital Mutilation Cutting
  

• Gender and the Vote in Britain, 2007
  Includes political attitudes such as left/right position, socialist/laissez-faire position, liberal/authoritarianism, egalitarianism and partisanship. Also included are psychological measures of gendered attributes, which is very unusual for political science data, and permits an analysis that looks beyond biological sex and considers the social construction of gender. Also includes basic demographic measures, alongside measures of parenthood and caring responsibilities, which allow a detailed analysis of how the realities of people's lives impact upon their political attitudes and behavior. To obtain a free account please register with the UKDA.

• General Social Survey (1972-2008) (GSS)
  Produced biennially since 1994, the GSS is a long running survey of social, cultural and political indicators. In addition to the GSS, topic modules, designed to investigate new issues or to expand the coverage of an existing subject, are administered. Examples of topic modules include computer and Internet, racial and ethnic prejudice, and child mental-health stigma. The GSS has participated since 1985 in the International Social Survey Program. A listing of modules performed through 2008 is available. For quick crosstabs and correlations use the SDA version which is available for free through University of California at Berkeley. For more information, see the NORC website.

  Sample Size: Over the life of the survey, more than 43,000 respondents, with about 3,000 added biennially.

• General Social Survey Topical Module 1988, 1994, 2002: Family and Changing Gender Roles
  Conducted in conjunction with the International Social Survey Program.

  A GSS module on the feminization of poverty was also conducted in 1986.

• Ghana: Savelugu-Nanton Household Survey Dataset, 2001
  In 2000, UNICEF Ghana and IFPRI agreed upon a program of action research to evaluate the scope for food-based strategies to reduce micronutrient undernutrition in Ghana. This survey is one of the early steps in the program of action research to evaluate the effectiveness of food-based strategies to increase the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods, especially among young children and women of reproductive age. Collected information about agricultural production, food consumption, nutritional status, use of credit, education, community infrastructure and services, and a range of other topics. Provides baseline information on conditions that existed prior to the implementation of the program interventions. A follow-up survey was conducted in 2004 to evaluate the impact of the program not only on the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods, but also on a number of other outcomes of interest, including access to and use of credit, children's nutritional status, women's control of resources, and household incomes. Must be requested from IFPRI.

  Sample Size: 1,684 households living in 64 communities

• Ghana: Savelugu-Nanton Household Survey Dataset, 2004
  Cross-sectional survey that, when paired with the baseline survey conducted in 2001, formed the basis for an IFPRI-led impact evaluation of interventions sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to increase the micronutrient content of young children's diets.

• Growth of American Families, 1955-1960
  Women were asked questions about fertility and contraception, including contraceptive use and pregnancy histories, opinions on childbearing and childrearing, expectation of further children, etc. Background information such as marital history, education, income, religion, social characteristics, and place of residence was also collected. Also available through ICPSR.

• Guatemalan Survey of Family Health, 1995
  The Guatemalan Survey of Family Health, known as EGSF from its name in Spanish, was designed to examine the way in which rural Guatemalan families and individuals cope with childhood illness and pregnancy, and the role of ethnicity, poverty, social support, and health beliefs in this process. It is part of a larger study designed and carried out by Noreen Goldman (Princeton University) and Anne Pebley (RAND), in collaboration with the Nutritional Institute of Central America and Panama (INCAP) in Guatemala, with funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The EGSF sampling frame includes all rural communities in four of Guatemala's 22 departments. While the survey is not based on a nationally representative sample, the four departments included in the study were selected to encompass a wide range of social, cultural, economic, and environmental conditions in rural Guatemala. Household interviews were conducted in 4,792 households and individual interviews with 2,872 women ages 18 to 35. In each of the 60 sampled communities, we also carried out a community survey in which 3 key informants and a sample of biomedical and nonbiomedical health care providers were interviewed.

• Interviews with Low-Income Mexican Women Household Heads in Urban Mexico (September 1992-March 1994)
  Explores the impact on the welfare of families of women's household headship in low-income Mexican urban neighborhoods. For this study, personal interviews were conducted with women in Guadalajara and Veracruz, Mexico. Respondents discussed many aspects of their daily lives, including how much they earned per week and what jobs they had held. In addition, they discussed their families, including their husbands and children, and their current housing situation. Other background information was collected on income, the number of years of education attained, political activity, and the health status of the respondents and their families.

• Marital Instability Over the Life Course Series
  Nationwide longitudinal study of marital instability. Measures were developed to predict marital instability and divorce and to assess marital quality. 6 waves of data were collected between 1980 and 2000 from married individuals between the ages of 18 and 55. Data are furnished on female labor force participation and life course perspective and the effects on marriage and marital instability.

• Murray Research Archive - Gender Studies datasets
  Has a number of studies valuable for research of women and gender.

  Some useful datasets include:

  • Women and Family Project 1991-1996
  • Federal Sexual Harassment Survey
  • Women in Nontraditional and Traditional Blue Collar Occupations 1975-1978
  • Gender and Latina Politics in Boston

  Application may need to be made directly to the Murray Research Archive for permission to use the data.

• National Fertility Survey, 1965, 1970, 1975
  Women were asked questions about fertility and contraception, including contraceptive use and pregnancy histories, opinions on childbearing and childrearing, desired family size, future childbearing intentions and expectation of further children. Questions about coital frequency at the time of interview were asked. Marital history, some labor force participation history, and background information such as education, income, religion, social characteristics, and place of residence was also collected. Also available through ICPSR.

• National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Mature Women (NLSW)
  Set of surveys designed to gather information on labor market activities and other significant life events. The Young Women's survey includes women who were ages 14-24 when first interviewed in 1968. The Mature Women's survey includes women who were ages 30-44 when first interviewed in 1967. Social and financial research may be performed as stage of life data was collected. These surveys were last conducted in 2003; no future collection of data is planned. Documentation is available at the NLS site. For comparisons of National Longitudinal Surveys, Survey of Income and Program Participation, and Panel Study of Income Dynamics, see the comparison chart.

  Sample Size: Each group began with more than 5,000 participants.

  Citation:
  National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Mature Women (NLSW) (Electronic File)
  Principal investigator: Ohio State University. Center for Human Resource Research.
  Producer: Ohio State University, Center for Human Resource Research and U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  Distributor: Ohio State University. Center for Human Resource Research.
  

• National Survey of Family Growth (1973+)
  Women were asked questions about fertility and contraception, including contraceptive use and pregnancy histories, desired family size, and expectation of further children. Also reports background information about the respondent and her husband, such as education, religion, ethnic origin, occupation, and earnings.

• Powerful women: female leadership and gender bias in India
  Includes information on 265 village councils, reservations and public goods in West Bengal and Rajasthan. The data sets are based upon information provided by GP Pradhans, local villagers, and the 1991 Indian Census.

• Retirement History Longitudinal Survey (1969-1979)
  10 year longitudinal study that investigated the changes in the economic and social characteristics of men and unmarried women in the United States, aged 58-63, as they approached and entered the retirement phase of their lives. The main purpose of the study was to assess the Social Security Program's provisions for retired workers, not only for recording the socioeconomic situation of Social Security beneficiaries, but also to aid policymakers in planning program changes. Covers (1) labor force history, (2) retirement and retirement plans, (3) health, (4) household, family, and social activities, and (5) income, assets, and debts.

• Russian Sociological Data Archive
  Includes data from many Russian institutes. Most documentation is in Russian. Summary data and data analysis tools are provided free on the site. For microdata, requests must be seen to the Archive. Wide variety of surveys including ones on reform, economics, social views, culture, politics, religion, labor, scientists, women, and young people.

• Survey on the Status of Women And Fertility
  Survey on the Status of Women And Fertility - A Comparative Study of Women's Status and Fertility in Five Asian Countries. Most surveys with good data on fertility and fertility-related behavior lacked measures of female autonomy and the roles played by women within households and communities. In an effort to redress this gap in the available data base, a team of researchers was assembled in the late 1980s to do a set of comparative studies in Thailand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Pakistan. After some preliminary studies and consultation, it was resolved to do larger scale surveys in each country, with samples of women and their husbands drawn from purposively selected communities, defined in different ways in different countries. The focus on communities was motivated by a recognition that many of the most salient theoretical ideas concerning the status of women and fertility were best operationalized at this macro level (Smith, 1989). The studies themselves were fielded in 1993 and 1994.

  Citation:
  Survey on the Status of Women And Fertility (Electronic File)
  Principal investigator: Smith, Herbert L., Sharon J. Ghuman, Helen J. Lee, and Karen Oppenheim Mason.
  Distributor: http://www.pop.upenn.edu/swaf/
  Version: 2000
  

• UK Data Archive. Gender Roles.
  Various datasets on gender roles from the United Kingdom Data Archive. To obtain a free account please register with the UKDA. Not all data is available outside the United Kingdom but most is.

• UNICEF: Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women
  Contains the full range of statistical information made available by UNICEF. Includes the official global statistical databases published in The State of the World's Children. Indicators on child survival and health, child nutrition, maternal health, water and sanitation, education, child protection, HIV/AIDS, immunization, and Millennium Development Goals.

• Violence Against Women Resource Guide
  Guide to data useful for the study of violence against women available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at ICPSR.

• 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.