LibGuides: JRP: Social Justice: Open Web Sources

Fact Checkers

Fact Check
Factcheck.org is sponsored by the Annenberg Center for Public Policy
Washington Post Fact Checker
An ongoing column in the Washington Post, started in 2007, specializing in political information. The Fact Checker is at heart about policy -- domestic and foreign -- as we have found that politicians are apt to be more misleading about complex and difficult-to-understand topics.

Britannica Pro Con

Britannica Pro Con
Mission is to promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting the pro and con arguments to controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Polling/ Survey

Cornell University Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
Our mission is to collect, preserve, and disseminate public opinion data; to serve as a resource to help improve the practice of survey research; and to broaden the understanding of public opinion through the use of survey data in the United States and around the world.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan 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 Center does not take policy positions.
Gallup Poll: Social and Policy Issues
The Gallup Poll is the division of Gallup that regularly conducts public opinion polls. Gallup Poll results, analysis, and videos are published daily in the form of data-driven news.
Kaiser Family Foundation: National Health Issues Polling
NORC at the University of Chicago: General Social Survey
For five decades, the General Social Survey (GSS) has studied the growing complexity of American society. It is the only full-probability, personal-interview survey designed to monitor changes in both social characteristics and attitudes currently being conducted in the United States.
Harris Poll
Frequent polls tap into a representative sample of Americans of all ages, genders, income and ethnic backgrounds. From sports to health, politics to the economy, the Harris Poll reflects Americans’ opinions on a wide range of topics and are regularly published by national, local, consumer, business and trade media outlets

Think Tanks

Think tanks are groups of researchers, scholars who study particular issues (environment, economy, poverty, etc). Think tanks share their research to inform other researchers, policymakers, interested readers. Think tanks can be ideological or independent and non-partisian. The Think tanks on this list fall into various categories.

The American Enterprise Institute
With its eminent scholars and world-renowned Library and Archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind.
Brookings Institute
Brookings brings together more than 300 leading experts in government and academia from all over the world who provide the highest quality research, policy recommendations, and analysis on a full range of public policy issues.
The Heritage Foundation
The mission of The Heritage Foundation is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Hoover Institute at Stanford
With its eminent scholars and world-renowned Library and Archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind.
The Progressive Policy Institute
The Progressive Policy Institute is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock.
RAND
RAND's mission is both simple and incredibly complex: We exist to help policymakers make decisions that are based on the best available information. This may not sound much different from the goals of other policy research institutions. But the difference is in the details. At RAND, our results are fueled by the best data, the strongest methods, and the brightest minds.

California Centric Think Tanks

California Policy Lab
The California Policy Lab is a research institute at the University of California. CPL performs rigorous research across issue silos and builds the data infrastructure necessary to improve programs and policies.
Public Policy Institute of California
We provide data-driven, nonpartisan research and spark productive conversations to inspire policy solutions for California’s challenges.

Social Justice Institutes

Social justice organizations advocate for a particular point of view on your topic. Analyze the evidence they use to support their claims. Understand their stance. Determine which information will be legitimate for your research.

To find advocacy organizations dedicated to your social justice topic, use Google Domain limiters.

your JRP topic site:org

Equal Justice Initiative
EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. We are committed to changing the narrative about race in America.
National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
UC Davis: Center for Regional Change, Environmental Justice
Using a collaborative research approach, the Center for Regional Change's (CRC) Environmental Justice Research Initiative helps inform public policy, support community self-empowerment, and improve conditions for people who are most affected by environmental harm.
California Environmental Justice Alliance
Institute for Women's Policy Research
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decisionmaking, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities.

Government Sources

Below are some examples of different government agencies' approach to social justice issues. You can find more government sources, by using a domain limiter:

your JRP topic site:gov

Voting and Elections
Find answers to common questions about voting in the United States.
US Department of Justice: Topics
Lists a variety of subject matter areas, initiatives, and programs handled by the U.S. Department of Justice.
EPA: Environmental Justice
National Park Service: Social Injustice in the Landscape
Cultural landscapes bear the imprints of history and cultural values of the past. The following cultural landscapes embody values of inequity and human responses, including pain, fear, courage and inspiration. They can serve as markers in our journeys toward egalitarianism.
CDC: Health Equity
Health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.”
Department of Education: Equity of Opportunity

Statistics

Federal Statistics

FedStats A trusted source for federal statistical information since 1997. FedStats supports a community of practice for over 100 agencies engaged in the production and dissemination of official federal statistics, and provides the public with a showcase of information, tools and news related to official federal statistics.
United States Census Bureau The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy.
American FactFinder American FactFinder provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The data in American FactFinder come from several censuses and surveys. For more information see Using FactFinder and What We Provide.
Data.gov As a priority Open Government Initiative for President Obama's administration, Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government. Data.gov provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets. The data catalogs will continue to grow as datasets are added. Federal, Executive Branch data are included in the first version of Data.gov.
Quick Facts US QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.
Agricultural Statistics Data Base - Quick Stats USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service "Quick Stats" statistics database. Select U.S., state, or county data for crops, livestock and other agricultural commodities. Query database by geographic area, search by commodity, or view data in charts or maps. Data sets include Census of Agriculture.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Provides access to statistics for a variety of U.S. Department of Justice reports and documents as well as some international statistics on crime and criminal justice. Link to data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports and download data series. Includes surveys of DNA Crime Laboratories.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Data U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data access point. Labor statistics include prices, inflation, employment, consumer price indices data and tables.
EPA Data Finder
The site is a single place to find a vast selection of EPA data sources, organized into topics such as air and water that are in easily downloadable formats.
Envirofacts
A one-stop source for environmental information from EPA.
Immigration Statistics - Data and Statistics from the Department of Homeland Security Statistical data from the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, profiles on legal permanent residents, and on naturalized citizens, mapping information available in pdf as well as downloadable data formats. Statistics include numbers of immigratants, status, country of origin, etc. Data available from 2004, with archived information from the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics back to 1996.

California Statistics

California Department of Education Data
Data and statistics collected from California schools and learning support resources to identify trends and educational needs and to measure performance.
DataQuest has Reports for accountability (e.g. API, AYP), test data, enrollment, graduates, dropouts, course enrollments, staffing, and data regarding English learners.
Ed-Data has State, county, district, and school level reports covering topics such as students, staffing, finances, and performance rankings.
Data.CA.GOV - State of California Data Includes links to numeric and geographic data covering a variety of topics including demography, health statistics, state contracts, traffic records. Statistics and data sets are available from state agencies and links are provided to other data sources - local, federal and other sources
California Department of Water Resources Data Links to DWR data and publications include water quality, state water plans, climate data and more.
California Quick Facts From the Census Bureau

Organizations

Statistical Atlas
StatisticalAtlas.com is a website dedicated to satisfying all your cravings for in-depth statistical data and analysis for all of the US. Get high-level overviews for the entire country, then drill down through 10+ map levels, all the way down to the individual block.
Diversitydata.org online tool for exploring quality of life data across metropolitan areas for people of different racial/ethnic groups in the United States. It provides values and rankings for the largest U.S. metropolitan areas on different indicators in 8 areas of life (domains), including demographics, education, economic opportunity, housing, neighborhoods, and health. It also provides a simple mapping utility, showing the range of indicator values for metros across the U.S.
diversitydatakids.org diversitydatakids.org is a state-of-the-art research project designed to meet the urgent need for a national, integrated information source that helps us understand: Who our children are, by documenting and tracking the rapidly changing demographics of children and families in the U.S.; What our children need, by establishing a system for monitoring not only child outcomes, but also key factors (including opportunities, conditions, and resources) that drive child outcomes; How to improve opportunities for all children, especially those that may need the most help, by focusing explicitly and rigorously on issues of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic equity in child health and wellbeing.

JRP: Social Justice: Open Web Sources

MLA for Open Web Sources