PSCI 480: Research Methods

A useful central hub for federal lobbyist registrations, federal grants, and federal and state campaign contributions.

Indicates which interest groups support and oppose pending legislation

Provides detailed information financial influence at the federal level, including information about earmark sponsors, interest group influence, fundraising contributions, and more.

Provides similar campaign and influence information within state governments.

American Factfinder is a very powerful tool for creating custom data tables based on information collected by the Census Bureau. This site is especially good for retrieving demographic information by area.

The BLS collects data on price indexes, inflation, consumer behaviors, salaries, benefits, occupational forecasts, work-related injuries, & more.

FedStats points you to statistical information by subject, state, and agency. It’s a good place to start.

A great first stop for Montana-specific statistics.

Collects and analyzes data related to education

The NCHS gathers current data on health trends relating to birth, morbidity, mortality, aging, injury, health care, and more.

CFFR data covers “Federal expenditures or obligations for the following categories: grants, salaries and wages, procurement contracts, direct payments for individuals, other direct payments, direct loans, guaranteed or insured loans, and insurance. Dollar amounts reported represent either actual expenditures or obligations.” The CFFR is notable for indicating how much funding goes to states and counties.

Reports on the costs associated with legislative and executive policy initiatives.

The OMB assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and supervises the administration of the budget in Executive Branch agencies. The OMB is also an official source for Statements of Administration Policy.

FRASER contains a lot of financial and economic information, including federal budgets from prior years.

Information on available government grants and contracts.

Detailed information on government contracts, grants, loans and their recipients.