Data and Information Sources

Quantitative Data

Micro

National

General Population Survey of Social Sciences (ALLBUS)

GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • 61.194 respondents in 24 years
  • keywords: attitude, behavior, social structure and social change in Germany, attitude towards ethnic groups
  • since 1980, updated every 2 years
  • access: registration required
  • www.gesis.org/en/allbus/download/

DeutschlandTrend

GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • approximately 1000 respondents per wave
  • reporting on the current political opinion in Germany
  • since 1998 updated monthly
  • access: download access class A free, access class B and C are subject to charges, C data only with written permission
  • www.gesis.org/en/elections-home/other-surveys/

Ethics Monitor

Hamburg Foundation for Economic Ethics


German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES)

GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys
  • keywords: response of the electorate on complex constellations of electoral policy, analysis of TV duels, content analysis of media coverage, electoral research
  • since 2009, update to the federal elections (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, ...)
  • access: registration required
  • www.gesis.org/en/elections-home/gles/

German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW)


  • 30.000 respondents in 15.000 households
  • keywords: residential situations, education, income, life satisfaction, health
  • since 1984, updated annually
  • access: data user agreement
  • www.diw.de/en/soep

German Survey on Volunteering (FWS)

German Centre of Gerontology (DZA)


  • approximately 15.000 telephone surveys on volunteering as well as surveys about questions of aging
  • keywords: content, scope, context and motives of voluntary commitment, donation, willingness to volunteer as well as work and retirement, family, health and quality of life
  • 1999-2019, updated every 5 years, further 2020/21
  • survey about age discrimination during the corona pandemic 2020
  • access: data user agreement
  • https://www.dza.de/en/research/fdz

Institute for Employment Research (IAB)


  • labor market statistics
  • keywords:  employment, unemployment, employment promotion, minimum wage, professional statistics, labor market barometer, migration and integration, temporary work
  • since 1967
  • access: IAB data via homepage, FDZ data only with data user contract
  • https://iab.de/en/startseite-english/

Opinion polls on various topics

Kantar (EMNID)


  • numerous empirical studies with different topics
  • keywords: politics, economics, daily life, fashion, children, youth, health, nutrition, environment, science, religion, energy, digital media
  • since 1947
  • access: via homepage
  • https://www.kantar.com/expertise/analytics

Politbarometer

GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • 495.558 respondents
  • opinions and attitudes of the germans to current events, parties and politicians
  • since 1977, updated monthly
  • access: download access class A free, access class B and C are subject to charges
  • www.gesis.org/en/elections-home/politbarometer/

Psychdata
Leibniz center for psychological information and documentation (ZPID)


  • data sharing platform for research data in psychology
  • keywords: clinical, educational, developmental, social, personality and cognitive psychology
  • since 1984
  • access: research data only with data user agreement
  • https://rdc-psychology.org/

Research Data Center of the Federal Statistical Office


  • microdata from over 100 official statistics
  • statistics from the fields of sociology, economics, agriculture, finance, tax, law,  energy, environment
  • access: micro data only with data user agreement
  • www.forschungsdatenzentrum.de/en/index.asp

Studies on Federal State Elections

GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


updated 08.2023

International

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


Council of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA)


European Election Studies (EES)
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


European Values Study (EVS)
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


Generations and Gender Programme (GGP)


  • longitudinal study of 18-79 year olds in 19 countries
  • keywords: fertility, partnership, transition to adulthood, economic activity, need of care, intergenerational relations
  • access: registration required
  • www.ggp-i.org/data

International Affective Picture System (IAPS)
Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA)


  • standardized database with 1800 photographs
  • keywords: emotional research, standardization by psychologists, assessment of valence, excitement and dominance
  • 2005
  • access: registration and statement of use
  • https://csea.phhp.ufl.edu/media/iapsmessage.html

International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • data from 50 countries
  • keywords: work orientation, environment, religion, social inequality, state and government
  • since 1984, updated annually
  • access: registration required
  • www.gesis.org/en/issp/home

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)


  • various studies and data sets
  • keywords: engineering, aging, criminal justice, drug abuse, terrorism, health, censuses, urban research, education, politics, legal systems, geography, organizational behavior
  • since 1962
  • access: registration required
  • www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/ICPSR/

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • study with about 5.000 respondents in 24 countries
  • keywords: literacy competence, technology-solved problem solving, centralized individual data
  • 2011-2012
  • access: PIAAC data records: registration and data user contract required, download variable reports and questionnaires without login
  • www.gesis.org/en/piaac/rdc/

The European Commision`s Eurobarometer Surveys
GESIS, Leibniz Institute of Social Sciences


  • about 1.000 respondents per EU member state
  • keywords: social situation, integration of minorities, health, culture, information technology, environmental protection, military operations, euro, European integration, politics, EU institutions
  • since 1973, updated every 6 months
  • access: via homepage
  • www.gesis.org/eurobarometer-data-service/home/

UK Data Archive


  • various data sets
  • keywords: aging, crime, education, environment and energy, ethnicity, eating, health, communication, labor, politics, poverty
  • since 1971
  • access: online, download after registration
  • www.data-archive.ac.uk/find

World Values Survey (WVS)


  • about 92.000 surveys in 62 countries
  • keywords: values, happiness, family, work, religion, politics, society
  • since 1981, updated every 9 years
  • access: download after registration
  • www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp

updated 08.2023

Macro

National

Census 2011 Evaluation Database

Federal Office of Statistics


  • population numbers, population density
  • subgroups: buildings, housing, households, families, demography, religion, migration, school and vocational training
  • 2011, updates every 10 years
  • access: via homepage
  • https://www.zensus2011.de/EN/Home/home_node.html

Database GENESIS
Federal Office of Statistics


  • keywords: labor market, elections, education, social services, health, justice, housing, environment, economic areas, foreign trade, enterprise, crafts, prices, income and consumption, public finances, taxes, staff, national accounts, national and international indicator systems
  • access: via homepage, registration for personalized service (charged)
  • www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online?operation=sprachwechsel&language=en

Municipal Education Database
Federal Office of Statistics


Statistics of the Federal Agency for Labor


updated 08.2023

International

Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI)


  • data from 129 developing and transition countries
  • keywords: democracy, market economy, political management, transformation index, success and regression of democracy
  • since 2003, updated every 2 years
  • access: via homepage
  • https://bti-project.org/en/downloads

Bribe Payers Index

Transparency International


CIA World Fact Book


Comparative Political Data Set (CPDS)


  • data from 36 democratic countries
  • keywords: changes, duration, reason for termination and type of government for 36 OECD countries, party composition
  • 1960-2021, updated annually
  • access: via homepage
  • https://www.cpds-data.org/

Corruption Perception Index (CPI)


  • survey of business people and experts, investigations in 180 countries
  • keywords: corruption by country comparison, corruption level
  • since: 1995, updated annually
  • access: via homepage
  • www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview

Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Union)


  • consolidates data to make it comparable between countries and regions
  • keywords: general and regional statistics, economy, finance, population, social conditions, industry, commerce, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, international trade, transport, environment, energy, science, technology, digital society
  • since 1958
  • access: via homepage, micro data only with access authorization
  • https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database

Global Corruption Barometer, Transparency International


Global Terrorism Database


  • worldwide database of about 200.000 terrorist attacks
  • keywords: bomb attacks, assassinations, abductions
  • since 1970, updated annually
  • access: registration required
  • www.start.umd.edu/gtd/

Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR)


  • conflict data from 167 countries (2021)
  • keywords: armed conflicts and interventions, bombings, fragility index and matrix, conflicts in India, regime change
  • since 1946
  • access: via homepage
  • www.systemicpeace.org/inscrdata.html

National Science Foundation (NSF)

  • data on various topics
  • keywords: business, education, government, social indicators, country data, labour
  • since 1952, updated annually
  • access: via homepage
  • www.nsf.gov/publications/

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)


  • data sets from 40 countries
  • keywords: agriculture, development, economy, GDP, education, energy, nature, finance, government, health, innovation, technologies, occupations, society
  • since 1960
  • access: via homepage
  • data.oecd.org/

International Monetary Fund (IMF)


  • time series data on economic and financial indicators
  • keywords: IMF loans, exchange rates, GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, balance of payments, exports, imports, foreign debt, capital flows, commodity prices
  • since 1998, updated annually
  • access: via homepage
  • www.imf.org/en/data

Pippa Norris Data (Harvard University)


  • political science records
  • keywords: election results, british constituency database, democracy, ethnic minorities, british electoral surveys
  • since 1945
  • access: via homepage
  • www.pippanorris.com/data

United Nations Conference On Trade And Development (UNCTAD)


  • statistical time series
  • keywords: international trade, economic development, population and labor, foreign direct investment, raw materials, maritime transport, external financial resources, information economy
  • partly since 1948, updated annually
  • access: via homepage
  • unctad.org/statistics

The World Bank


  • global development data
  • keywords: agriculture, poverty, climate change, economy and growth, education, energy, environment, foreign debt, financial sector, health, gender, infrastructure, science, technology, social security and labor, urban development, trade
  • since 1967
  • access: via homepage
  • www.data.worldbank.org/

updated 08.2023

Qualitative Data

Chronicles

Munzinger Archives


  • 71.000 messages
  • keywords: elections, civil war, natural disasters, interstate conflicts
  • since 1986, weekly updated
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge 
  • www.munzinger.de/ new: https://online.munzinger.de/

International Biographical Archive

Munzinger Archives


  • 42.100 biographies of persons from the 20th/ 21st century
  • keywords: biographies of persons from culture, economy, science, society, sports
  • since 1913, weekly updated
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge
  • www.munzinger.de/

Anniversary Archive

Munzinger Archives


  • more than 52.000 events
  • date since 776 b.c., updated annually
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge
  • www.munzinger.de/

Country Information

Munzinger Archives


  • worldwide country comparison data, geographical basic data
  • keywords: politics, economics, social affairs, education, country maps, population figures
  • weekly updated
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge
  • www.munzinger.de/

Literature, Film, Music

Munzinger Archives


  • Kindler's literature lexicon with 13.000 works, more than 900 composers, "Neue Rundschau" archive with 120 volumes, 29.000 film critiques, Naxos Music Library with 100.000 classic CDs, 5000 audio books CDs, videos
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge
  • www.munzinger.de/

Murray Research Center

Harvard University


  • approx. 6500 quantitative and qualitative data sets
  • keywords: demography, religion, education, family, social change, marriage, women, health, politics, science
  • since 1976
  • access: via homepage
  • www.murray.harvard.edu/dataverse

Press Archive

Munzinger Archives


  • news items
  • media: Frankfurter Allgemeine, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, The World, "PressReader" (6000 newspapers from 100 countries)
  • since 1949
  • access: with user agreement for a fee, with (chargeable) library card, e.g. Medienhaus am See in Friedrichshafen, free of charge
  • www.munzinger.de/

Qualiservice-Datasharing

University of Bremen


  • social science interview studies
  • keywords: status passages, employment, the life planning of young women, migration and social integration, training and delinquency, professional progress in social change
  • since 1989
  • access: only with user agreement
  • https://www.qualiservice.org/en/

Qualitative Data Archival Resource Center (Qualidata)
UK Data Service


  • sociological, political science studies
  • keywords: sociology, social policy, anthropology, political science, social and economic history, geography
  • since 1994
  • access: via homepage, download only with registration
  • https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/find-data/

updated 08.2023

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