Information & Communication Studies: Datasets & Statistics

Information about books, journals, databases, offical publications and other useful information and communication studies resources.

Data Analysis

UCD IT Services provide access for students to a range of data analysis software packages, including NVivo, SPSS and Stata. These can be downloaded or accessed through the UCD Connect page - selecting the Software Download option for NVivo. Stata and SPSS are available via AppsAnywhere.

A full listing of the applications available and instructions for downloading can be found here.

Please contact IT Services for more information (https://fujitsuireland.service-now.com/itucd)

Useful Datasets

Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA)
Surveys included are Growing up in Ireland; Opinion Poll data; Cross National Comparative Data, Social and Political Attitudes Survey, NCPP Employee Attitudes Survey, Irish National Election Study, Ageism and Ageing, Eurostudent and Attitudes to Disability
Central Statistics Office
Hosts databases including StatBank; Census of Population, Agriculture and several other public sector areas.
Includes statistical databases from International Organizations such as Eurostat, ECB, OECD, UNECE, UNSC, & IMF.
ESRI (Economic & Social Research Institute)
A leading European research centre in the social sciences focusing on economic and social change in Ireland

Eurostat
The Statistical Office of the European Union. Provides high-quality statistical information on the EU Member States Includes information on Eurostat printed and electronic publications Data is charged for but some key indicator snapshots are free to view.
European Social Survey (ESS)
A biennial multi-country survey covering over 30 nations, funded jointly by the European Commission, European Science Foundation and academic funding bodies in each participating country.
UK Data Archive (UKDA)
Contains the largest collection of digital data in the Social Sciences and Humanities in the U.K.
Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
National data archives for social science teaching and research in Europe (also provides links to Australia and USA archives).

International Federation of Data Organisations on the Net
Provides links to and information about key social science data archives. Supported by Unesco

World Development Indicators Online This link opens in a new window
World Development Indicators Online, published by the World Bank, is a comprehensive database of development information covering more than 575 indicators, 225 countries, and 18 regional and income groups. The extensive collection includes data on population, income, social, economic, financial, natural resources and environmental indicators from 1960 onwards.

United Nations Statistics Division
Provides access to a wide range of official statistical outputs and services. A limited amount of data is available free of charge e.g. summaries of world population, health, education, employment, and other social indicators.

OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
OECD iLibrary contains all the publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998. Formerly SourceOECD, the platform comprises 20 Book collections by theme, containing all OECD monographs and reports; 24 periodicals; a reference title; and the OECD statistical databases.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Profiles and global datasets on the subjects of education, literacy, culture and communication, and science and technology, plus reports generated from these resources

Finding Data Tutorial

As a student you are probably using research data for assignments in which your findings are based on evidence you have gathered. Use this tutorial to help you understand the types of data available for reuse, where to find these data and how to use them in your own research.

At the end of this 10-minute tutorial, you will be able to: