ENED 3061 Probability and Statistics I - Finding Data Sets

​​​​​Word choice matters

• Remember to search different word variations such as: dataset, data set, datasets, data sets

Use Filters

• Filters within databases will allow you to limit results to specific data formats, publicly available datasets, and much more 

Make an account

• Some dataset databases require that you create an account to download the information or to see the full range of available data sets - especially ICPSR

Start with a keyword search, then refine by subject or other facets later. 

Building a search query:

• Create a search set of synonyms (use "OR" operator) for a concept
• Combine search sets for concepts with "AND" operator
• use quote marks " " to identify a phrase
• Use truncation and wild cards to expand based on a word stem (e.g., nano* )

Narrow your results:

• Examine search result record to see what subjects have been assigned (if any) to the record. Subjects can be combined with keywords to focus search, or searched individually to find items that are primarily about the topic.
• Use refine or limit features such as date, material type (e.g., review article), treatment (in Compendex - theoretical, applied, etc).

Citation searching

• Expand to related articles with shared citations (Scopus)
• Use citation searching and browsing features, including sorting by # of times cited (Scopus, SciFinder, Google Scholar, etc).