Types of Data Sources

Dataset Archives

  • Journal of Statistics Education Data Archive Datasets contributed by statistics teachers. Raw data are in a .dat file with explanations a .doc file. Many of these datasets are tied to longer JSE articles discussing their use in statistics classes.
  • DASL The Dataset and Story Library - a collection of datasets and related documentation (stories) which may be searched by data subjects or by statistical techniques.
  • Statlib Dataset Archive One of the original (and still best) sources for archived data.
  • CHANCE Project Datasets Data from recent media coverage of current events. Only a few datasets here, but many excellent references to teaching applications of statistics in the news can be found at the main CHANCE page.
  • Electronic Dataset Service A collection of links to datasets organized by statistical methods (multiple regression, time series, etc.). Housed at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

    • Pages of Data Links

  • Datasurfing A page I maintain for getting students started on finding data on the Web.
  • Dr. B's Wide World of Web Data. An extensive collection of data sources maintained by John Behrens (Dr. B) at Arizona State.
  • Data Sources. A list of links put together by Mike Meyer at Carnegie Mellon as part of an on-line talk on "Internet Resources for Teaching Statistics" at the 1995 Joint Statistical Meetings in Orlando.
  • Sports Data Page Links to current and archived data related to various sports.
  • Data Sources Maintained by David Rosen and linked from the WWW Virtual Library: Statistics

    • Search Engines

    When you want to find data on a particular topic (for example, try the Kentucky Derby)...

  • C-Net's Search Let's you pick from among many of the most popular searchers.
  • YAHOO! One of the original search engines - still a good place browse trees of related links.
  • AltaVista One of the most comprehensive.

    • Data about the Web

    Want to measure some feature of Web pages? You'll need a way to randomly sample pages...

  • URouLette Takes you to different pages "at random".
  • AltaVista Surprise Cyberspace Jump -goes to random pages, or stays within categories like "home pages" or "Elvis sightings"

    • How do colleges and universities present themselves on the Web? Sample from the list at

  • American Colleges and Universities