Find & Use Data
How to Search & Find Data on Our Website
Think of ICPSR like a library for data. You can browse topics, use search tools, and access datasets. On the ICPSR website, go to the “Find Data” page to start searching or view step-by-step instructions for finding a dataset for your needs.
Why Search Matters
Our search is powerful—it scans more than just study titles. It also looks at investigators, subject terms, and specific details within documentation. Titles and other basic information about the publications associated with the data are also searched (not the full text of the publications, however). A single search returns studies, variables, and publications! With these tools, finding relevant data at ICPSR is straightforward and effective.
Narrowing Down the Results
When you search ICPSR for a topic, such as “college students,” you’ll see thousands of studies. To refine your search, use the filters on the left side. For example, select “public data” under “restriction type” to find instantly downloadable datasets—great for teaching. You can also filter by data format (e.g., for specific software or online analysis) or type (quantitative, qualitative, GIS).
If you only want data that have been checked, described, and prepared by our professional curation staff, add “-openicpsr” to your search terms to exclude self-published studies. You can preview study summaries directly on the results page and sort by study time period. Sorting by released/updated will let you know which data are hot off the data curation presses!
Note: If your institution isn’t an ICPSR member, focus on “public data” rather than “member-funded data” under “data availability.”
Browse ICPSR’s Thematic Collections
ICPSR also offers “thematic collections” in which data are grouped by topic or funding agency. These thematic collections are a great place to start if you have an interest in a broad topical area (like crime or aging), but we recommend searching from the main ICPSR pages if you are looking for something specific. Searches performed on the thematic pages do not search across the full ICPSR collection.
Browse ICPSR’s Data by Discipline
This page provides an overview of ICPSR’s 20,000+ studies organized into major subject areas (like Behavioral Sciences, Economics, Education, Health, Political Science, etc.) with quick jump links to specific datasets under each topic.
Find Data with Online Analysis
Online data analysis enables users to explore datasets using certain statistical procedures without downloading data and setup files, and without being familiar with any statistical packages. ICPSR currently offers online analysis components for selected data collections using Survey Documentation Analysis (SDA).
Browse Data Resource Guides
ICPSR Data Spotlights include curated data and resources on topics like Latine Heritage Month, 9/11, Pride Month, Women’s History Month, Juneteenth, and Elections, with more topics coming in the future.
