Welcome
This research guide is designed for students doing research on policy issues. If you run into any obstacles, don't hesitate to book a research session. ~ Rosalind Tedford
Policy Analysis and Web Sources
Policy analysis organizations will differ depending on your topic, but here are some places to start.
- GAO ReportsThe U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) looks into how the US spends taxpayer dollars. Their reports can give great insight into how certain issues are being addressed through government resources.
- Rand CorporationRand performs policy analysis with teams of researchers on a wide variety of policy issues both domestic and international. Use the Research tab at the top of the page to see their areas of concentration. They are non-partisan and non-profit.
- Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS)The Congressional Research Service is the research office for the US Congress. They research issues for congressional offices and committees, and do budget and policy evaluations of legislation before and after implementation.
Public Policy Think Tanks
The Harvard Kennedy School keeps a list of US and Non-US Think Tanks and provides a custom Google search across them all. This is a great place to go to find Think Tank content.
- Think Tank Custom SearchA Google Custom Search of more than 1200 think tanks and research centers.
General Think Tanks
- Pew ResearchNonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
Policy-Specific Think Tanks
- Pew Research: Hispanic and LatinosResearch designed improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the nation.
Data and Statistics
US Data
- Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Coverage: 1878-
- SAGE Data This link opens in a new windowWith SAGE Data (formerly called Data Planet), you can scan and search the contents of billions of datasets, compare and contrast variables of interest, and create customized views in tables, maps, rankings, and charts. Views also include descriptive summaries of the datasets and data sources. Coverage: Details not available
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowA U.S. national data and mapping tool and analytics platform with multidisciplinary applications related to social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration, public health, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, and geography, among others.
- SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new windowMap thousands of demographic, business, and marketing data variables. Coverage limited to the United States. Coverage: Details not available
- Roper Center Public Opinion Archives This link opens in a new windowOne of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. Covers opinions on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented. Coverage: 1935-present
- Pew ResearchNonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
- Pew Research: Hispanic and LatinosResearch designed improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the nation.
International Data
- Statistical Abstracts of the World This link opens in a new windowThis database aggregates the statistical abstracts of over 40 countries (and growing) and makes the content available through a single-search interface. These statistical abstracts are generally issued by the national statistical offices of foreign governments and contain country-level data not easily found elsewhere. Global and regional statistical compendia issued by international organizations and research firms are also included. Coverage: 2013-
Video Resources
- Filmakers Library Online This link opens in a new windowStreaming video collection of award-winning documentaries with relevance across the curriculum--race and gender studies, human rights, globalization and global studies, multiculturalism, international relations, criminal justice, environment, bioethics, health, political science and current events, psychology, arts, literature, and more. Coverage: Details not available
- Films on Demand - Master Academic Package This link opens in a new windowContains videos in business, economics, health, medicine, humanities, social sciences, science and mathematics. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.
- PBS Video Collection This link opens in a new windowThis streaming video collection provides a range of content with the most valuable video documentaries and series from PBS. Covers subjects from science, history, art, Shakespeare, diversity, business & economics, and more.
- Kanopy Video This link opens in a new windowStreaming video platform for libraries that offers films, TV shows, and documentaries across mutliple subject areas.
- Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new windowAcademic streaming library of feature films, documentaries and foreign films from the largest movie studios, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, NBCUniversal, Columbia Pictures, Lions Gate, MGM, Miramax and many more. ZSR subscribes to the 1000 most popular titles and has licensed a few others for campus.
Government Agency Sites
- A-Z Index of US Federal Departments and AgenciesOften the best place to get primary source material from the US Government Agencies is from their web sites.
Getting Started with Background Sources
Before getting started with policy research, it is a good idea to start with some background and context to the issues you are investigating. The sources below will help you get to that information quickly.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowContains reports and analysis on issues in the news including health, social trends and issues, criminal justice, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Great resource for background information on current news, hot topics, and social issues. Coverage back to 1923. Coverage: 1991-
- Proquest Congressional Topics PagesTopics pages that bring together CRS reports, hearings, proposed and passed legislation and more.
- Congressional DigestReports on pros and cons, background and verbatim arguments of legislation before Congress, each issue dealing with one law under consideration.
- Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new windowThis comprehensive multidisciplinary database delivers credible facts and current insight into today's most debated political and social issues. Contains periodical content that covers current events, news and commentary, pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowSearch across hundreds of subject encyclopedias and other reference works. A great place to find background information on almost any research topic. Includes subject trees, pro/con resources, links to scholarly articles and more.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearch across hundreds of subject encyclopedias and other reference works. A great place to find background information on almost any research topic. Includes a topic finder for help with narrowing or broadening your research topic. Coverage: varies
- Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOverviews of research and trends and background information in the Social Sciences and Humanities. WFU access includes the following subject collections: Asian Studies; Communication, Journalism, Media & Culture; Environment & Sustainability; Law; Philosophy; Politics; Religion; Security Studies; and Sociology.
Finding Books
Use our main library search interface Primo to locate books and other materials in Reynolds Library. When you search from the ZSR Library homepage, you will be taken to a search screen where books are in the center box on the top row. You can see all books from the search by clicking the total number of results in the top of the box, or the More Books link at the bottom. To find books on US Policy Issues, search on the policy and "United States":
- "Gun Control" "United States"
- Economic Regulation United States
- Racial Profiling United States
- "Same Sex Marriage" 'United States"
- Legalization marijuana United States
Major Politics and IA Databases
Political Science & Military Databases
- ProQuest Political Science Database This link opens in a new windowContains hundreds of leading political science and international relations journals, full-text doctoral dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, country profiles, political news and other sources. This link cross searches ProQuest Political Science Database, PAIS Index, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Coverage: 1985-
- HeinOnline Law Journal Library This link opens in a new windowContains more than 2,000 law and law-related periodicals. Coverage generally begins with the first issue published, so contains over a century of law and legal scholarship.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowCovers current issues through selective coverage of a wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. Coverage: 1915-
- ProQuest Military Database This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text titles on military issues from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, and more. Coverage: 1987-
- Military and Government Collection This link opens in a new windowProvides full text from military and general interest publications including government offices, journals, think tanks and more. Designed to bring current news to all branches of the military. Coverage: 1985-
Databases from Related Fields
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles about the history and culure of the United States and Canada. Publications include peer-reviewed journals, magazines, dissertations, books, and more. Access is limited to six simultaneous users. Note: For world history topics, use the Historical Abstracts database. Coverage: 1964-
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new windowIncludes abstracts, indexing, and full text from international business periodicals like the Harvard Business Review. Also includes Datamonitor company profiles. Coverage: 1886-
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowContains scholarly literature on all aspects of communication studies, including discourse, linguistics, media studies, and rhetoric. Coverage: 1915-
- Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new windowContains supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, and litigation and crime trends. It also includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, crime blogs, and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement, and related fields. Coverage: 1995-
- EconLit This link opens in a new windowContains citations to, and selected abstracts of, the field of economics from international journal articles, dissertations, and books, books chapters and articles and conference proceedings. Coverage: 1969-
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, urban planning, and more. Coverage: 1901-
- ERIC (via EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts education journals and documents published by the Educational Resource Information Center of the US Department of Education. Coverage: 1967-
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing and abstracts for journal articles, books, and dissertations covering the history of the world from 1450-- except the U.S. and Canada. For similar coverage of the U.S. and Canada, use America History and Life. Access is limited to six simultaneous users. Coverage: 1954-
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowProvides abstracts to journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines (sociology, linguistics, anthropology, education, medicine, law, physiology, business, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacology). Links to full text in PsycARTICLES and to other resources in ZSR. Coverage: 1806-
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides citations and abstracts to articles published in sociology, social welfare, and social policy, as well as other related topics in the social and behavioral sciences. Also includes citations to some books and many dissertations. Includes Social Services Abstracts. Coverage: 1952-
- ProQuest Sociology Database This link opens in a new windowThis database covers the international literature of sociology and social work, including culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, social psychology, substance abuse and addiction and more. This collection provides full-text coverage of many core titles included in Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts. Coverage: 1985-
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowCoverage includes Biochemistry and Biology, Business & Management, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Economics, Engineering & Technology, Environmental Science, Materials Science, Mathematics & Computer science, Medicine & Pharmacology, Neurosciences, Physics, Social Sciences. Coverage: varies
