The Blackwell Companion to Sociology (115 page)

http://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/eurodata/eurodata.html

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European Documentation Centre (EDC)

The EDC at the University of Mannheim is part of a large information network created by the European Communities in the 1960s. The Centre provides information on the European Union, EU institutions, and EU programs. This site, available in both English and German, provides access to a large number of EU databases, some of which are available for free over the Internet.

http://www.uni-mannheim.de/users/ddz/edz/eedz.html

Europinion

Europinion provides access to data from European public opinion polls and surveys. This web site includes links to the Standard Eurobarometer (EB), the European Continuous Tracking Survey (CTS), Flash Eurobarometers, Top-Decision Makers EBs, Central and Eastern Eurobarometers, and Qualitative Studies requested by the European Commission Services. Data can be downloaded in PDF format, and read using Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or higher (which can be downloaded at this site).

http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg10/infcom/epo/eo.html

Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Communities)

Eurostat provides the European Union with high quality statistical information. The use of uniform rules to collect statistical data from the National Statistical Institutes of each of the 15 member states allows global and comparative data analysis. The collected data include information regarding economy and finance, population and social conditions, energy and industry, agriculture, external trade, environment, research, and development. The web site provides graphs, tables, and maps of the data.

http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/serven/home.htm

International

Aboriginal Resources

This web page provides links to a variety of resources concerned with aboriginal culture, arts, law, legislation, environmental concerns, newsgroups, and publications.

http://www.bloorstreet.com/300block/aborl.htm

Archivos de Fecundidad y Salud, Programa Centroamericano de Poblacion,

Universidad de Costa Rica

This archive contains a collection of fertility and health surveys conducted in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama between the

years of 1976 and 1995. These surveys contain information on pregnancies, contra-ceptive use and knowledge, marriage, maternal-infantile health, immunization, oral rehydration use and knowledge, health service use, AIDS knowledge, child mortality, and other related topics. Data files are available to researchers in ASCII format.

http://www.opr.princeton.edu/populi/archiv/index.html

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Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)

Established in 1989, CIESIN provides information to help scientists, policy-makers, and the general public to understand our changing world and promotes global and regional network development. CIESIN houses the World Data Center A (WDC-A) for human

interactions in the environment. The Data Archive provides access to demographic and socioeconomic data, metadata resources, and interactive applications. Holdings include US Decennial Census products, some Chinese data, Mexican data, a global population database, and the World Bank's Social Indicators of Development.

http://www.ciesin.org/

Center for International Health Information (CIHI)

CIHI, a USAID information management activity, works to provide reliable information on the population, health and nutrition of developing countries aided by USAID. This web site allows access to country health profiles and health statistics, and USAID

program information. It also provides a link to the Health Statistics Database (HSD).

http://www.cihi.com

Centro Latinamericano de Demografia [Latin American Demographic

Center] (CELADE)

CELADE provides researchers with technical assistance and population information and statistics about Latin American and Caribbean countries, carries out applied research in related subjects, and works on the development of related computer systems and programs. CELADE also offers population workshops, courses, and seminars, and publishes three periodical publications (in Spanish).

http://www.eclac.org/Celade-Eng/

The Global Observatory

Developed in 1996, the Global Observatory serves as a specialist trans-state data archive.

The active development of the Observatory is currently located at the Globalization and World Cities (GAWC) Research Group and Network. The archive, organized on a topic basis, maintains information concerning world cities, environmental regions, social movements (environmental, indigenous peoples, local, feminist, labor, religious, terror-ism, peace, etc.), global corporations, cultural areas, core±periphery structures, migration (refugees, tourism, etc.), energy flows, information and control, media

communications, financial transactions, and commodity flows. Topics are linked to other resources, additional related information, and helpful bibliographies.

http://www.stile.lut.ac.uk/global.html

Hunger Web

The Hunger Web provides links to high quality Internet data regarding international hunger, food, poverty, and population issues. Further, this site contains links to informative publications, important hunger-related research institutions, international financial institutions dealing with hunger-related issues, relevant US government sites, and other helpful resources.

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/World_Hunger_Program/hungerweb/researchers

.html

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IASSIST

IASSIST is an international membership organization that promotes the development of social science data information centers, technology for secondary research, archiving standards, and information center staff development. Members are affiliated with academic, government, non-profit, and commercial institutions worldwide. IASSIST offers workshops and conferences, and publishes IASSIST Quarterly.

http://datalib.library.ualberta.ca/iassist/

Infonation, United Nations

Infonation provides free access to an easy-to-use database that allows researchers to view and compare up-to-date statistical data for the member states of the United Nations. Data include information regarding geography, economy, population, and

social indicators.

http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_i_map.htm

Institute for Global Communications (IGC)

The IGC is a non-profit organization that promotes the use of computer technology to advance movements for international peace, economic and social justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability. This site provides mailing lists and discussion forums, consulting services, and news regarding non-profit activist organizations. Further, it provides links to Peacenet, Econet, Labornet, Womensnet, and Conflictnet, online networks of organizations dedicated to disseminating information and promoting activism.

http://www.igc.org/igc/gateway/index.html

International Archive of Education Data

This archive acquires, processes, and disseminates data collected by national, state or provincial, local, and private organizations, concerning all levels of education in countries for which data is available. The Archive allows for comparative and longitudinal research in the field of education. Data include information on such topics as funding, personnel, teaching resources, facilities, teacher and student preparation, graduation and matriculation rates, drop-out rates, test scores, job placements, life histories, and life assessments. Data files, documentation, and reports are downloadable through the ICPSR web site in public-use format. The web site features an online data analysis system (DAS) that allows users to conduct analyses on selected data sets within the Archive.

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/IAED/

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Established in 1945, the IMF currently has 128 country members. The IMF aims to

promote international monetary cooperation, facilitate international trade, and assist members with temporary difficulties. This web site offers information about the IMF and its member countries.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/glance.htm

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International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)

INSNA, established in 1978, is a professional association of researchers interested in social network analysis. The INSNA web site contains general information, news, and updates about the association, lists of journals and textbooks dealing with social network analysis, and links to people and institutions conducting social network analysis. Online resources also include links to software packages for social networks, links to sources of social network data, and links to other social network related web sites.

http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/project/INSNA

International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

The ISSP is a continuing, annual program of cross-national collaboration. The program serves to link data from the General Social Survey (GSS) in the United States to that of its counterparts in Germany, Britain, Australia, and 27 other countries. Cross-national study modules on 11 different topics, ranging from the environment, government, and religion, to social inequality and the role of the government, have been utilized. Data and documentation are maintained and distributed by the Zentralarchiv at the University of Cologne, Germany. A link to the Zentralarchiv is included on the ISSP web site. The ISSP

is a valuable resource for researchers undertaking comparative analysis or studying attitudes, behaviors, and attributes of adult populations in other countries.

http://www.issp.org/homepage.htm or

http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/

International Stratification and Mobility File (ISMF)

The ISMF is a collection of standardized sample survey data dealing with issues of social stratification and social mobility. This site allows access to a catalogue of social mobility data and codebooks, provides tools for standardizing occupation codes, occupational mobility tables, and more. Access to data can be obtained only by request. However, there is information regarding access and links to other data archives that maintain ISMF data sets.

http://www.fss.uu.nl/soc/HG/ismf/

International Survey Center

The ISC conducts cross-national research on social, economic, and political issues. This web site provides access to the ISSP, publications, reports, and several ready-to-use ISSP

data sets. The background variables in these public-use data sets have been recoded into common categories to allow for easy international comparative research. Data are available in SPSS format and can be downloaded from the Internet for free. Great for classroom exercises or student research.

http://www.international-survey.org

Lijphart Election Archive

The Lijphart Election Archive is a collection of district level election results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in democratic nations. The Archive data represent 43 countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, North

America, South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Data Resources on the World Wide Web

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Oceania. As well as providing access to data, this site also provides links to other online election information and data.

http://dodgson.ucsd.edu/lij/

Living Standards Measurement Study, World Bank (LSMS)

The LSMS is a multitopic survey designed to study household welfare and behavior in developing countries. This survey is used to evaluate the effectiveness of government policies on living conditions and poverty. The household questionnaires include

questions regarding consumption, expenditures, income, employment, health, education, fertility, and migration. Questionnaires are also conducted to determine community conditions and resources, regional prices of common goods, and information on schools and clinics. This site provides access to data, questionnaires, documentation, reports, and newsletters. Some data can be obtained free of charge via the Internet. Minimal handling charges are applied to data that must be shipped to interested researchers.

http://www.worldbank.org/html/prdph/lsms/lsmshome.html

Most Research Themes

Most Research Themes, under the direction of UNESCO, supplies social science information to policy-makers worldwide through workshops and seminars, publications, conferences, and computer networks. Most's research areas of focus include: multicultural and multiethnic societies; cities as arenas of accelerated social transformation; and coping locally and regionally with economic technological and environmental transformation.

http://www.unesco.org/most/restheme.htm

North American Jewish Data Bank

Established in 1986, the North American Jewish Data Bank acts as a repository for computer-based population and survey data on Jewish communities in the United States and Canada. Along with the 1981 Canadian Census data and the 1970 and 1990

National Jewish Population Survey, the Data Bank has in its holding 46 local studies from 41 Jewish communities. Raw data are available for analysis on request and can be supplied in a variety of formats. This site also provides links to publications and results from the 1990 NJPS.

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/cjstu/na.htm

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Founded following the Second World War to rebuild war-ravaged economies, OECD

brings together countries sharing the principals of a market economy, pluralist democracy, and human rights in an attempt to encourage economic development and cooperation. The OECD collects statistical data, which can be used for cross-national

comparisons, conducts macro- and microeconomic research, and provides policy advice.

OECD archives are deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Communities in Italy. Historical monographs are sold by OECD, and free documents of statistical and policy-related information are available online.