I am grateful to the internet for creating a means of obtaining information. I am grateful because for one of the first times in history, the average citizen can easily access the same information as news agencies and the press; video’s of press releases that are streamed live directly to your hand held device, as well as state and federal government documents and statistics.
I have noticed that when people post statistics on Facebook it is very easy to find the origin of their information by simply copying and pasting into Google. What often shows up is a link to a news source that has interpreted the data with a particular perspective and an inherent bias. Part of this process involves working to ensure that people are provided with the correct information, reported without bias. This requires a significant amount of time and research.
I am including the primary sources that I have used thus far to help enable and empower you to have direct access to the same statistical data that the news uses to tell a “storytruth”. Remember that the only story you want to be telling is one which openly embraces difference with compassion and employs primary source data; both are equally important in creating a new form of political conversation. As I continue this journey, navigating the various internet sources that are available, this list will continue to expand and grow.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Also known as the “central bank of the United States, they work to determine the financial stability of our economy. Here you can find information about economic developments and how the budget of the federal government is balanced. You can also find information about Banking and Regulation. https://www.federalreserve.gov/default.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Department of Labor: All the information you could want about employment, unemployment, pay & benefits, employment projects, etc. Great for finding out how the government defines various categories of labor. https://www.bls.gov/home.htm
Bureau of Fiscal Service; U.S. Department of the Treasury: In 2012, the Bureau of the Public Debt and the Financial Management System were brought together to create this bureau. The website offers information related to federal and state reporting of government deposits, loans, debt, and other accounting demands. It offers a direct link to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that allows you to directly request government documents as well as phone numbers to ask questions about your own debt, savings bonds, and payments. https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsindex.htm
Census Database 2011 (Zensus 2011: Federal Statistical Office and the statistical Offices of the Länder): When people post information about other countries one of the best ways to track down the actual statistical data is to go right to the source. This is Germany’s Federal site containing the Census information from 2011; everything that you could possibly want to know about the demographics in Germany. https://ergebnisse.zensus2011.de/?locale=en#Home:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Contains everything you could possibly wants to know related to public health including data and statistics, Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID), Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD), and Morbidity and Mortality Reports. https://www.cdc.gov/
CONGRESS.GOV: I am putting this source in capital letters to emphasize its importance as a primary reference source. This is a true gem if you have any questions about what legislation is being proposed in the House of Representatives and are curious about who, what, when, and why. A great resource for fact checking what bills are actually being introduced to Congress! https://www.congress.gov/
Congressional Budget Office (CBO): As a nonpartisan office, unaffiliated with political parties, the CBO provides independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues in order to help support Congress’ budgetary understanding. The office focuses on objectivity and transparency. http://www.cbo.gov
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Everything you ever wanted to know about what is going on in terms of environmental protection (or lack thereof), state and federal rights and regulations, as well as the Agency’s budget information. https://www.epa.gov/
Department of Homeland Security (DHS): This website covers so much: terrorism, transportation security, privacy, law enforcement, immigration, human trafficking, etc. A great jumping off point for anything relating to the Homeland in general. https://www.dhs.gov/
Destatis Statistisches Bundesamt (The Federal Statistical Office of Germany): If you are looking for the most recently collected statistical data which identifies the various demographics in Germany, this is your site. It can be viewed in both German and English. https://www.destatis.de/EN/Homepage.html;jsessionid=44CEB544E807018F28A5F3611558664D.cae2
Dianne Feinstein’s Website: This is the official website of Senator for California Dianne Feinstein. Here you can find Press Releases that are directly from the Senator; her words, without interpretation. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/
Federal Bureau of Investigation; Uniform Crime Reporting: This contains everything you want to know about crime including definitions, data collection, and statistics. One of the more easier sites to access and utilize. https://ucr.fbi.gov/
Federal Office for Migration and Refugees; Germany (BAMF): So a lot of people have recently been posting information about various statistics relating to Germany and immigrants. This site is in English and published by the government. It provides up to date information about everything you might want to know about migration in Germany. http://www.bamf.de/EN/Startseite/startseite-node.html;jsessionid=0F198D295D12025C385560705BA12C7C.2_cid368
Global Terrorism Database: This website brings together the efforts of the U.S Department of Homeland Security and the University of Maryland to create the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). It provides information about terrorism around the world dating back to 1970. https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/
InsideGov: A government Research site that uses “semantic technology to deliver deep insights via data-driven articles, visualizations and research tools. This website basically provides statistical data using technology developed by Graphiq to pull from “500 collections, 1 billion entities, 250 billion data points and 25 billion curated relationships”. In other words, you can find pretty much anything your are looking for. http://www.insidegov.com/
The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC); United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security: As an inter-agency website, the OSAC was created in 1985 to promote a connection between private businesses in the US and the US Department of State. It’s “primary goal…is to develop an effective security communication network” and is useful in that it provides information about crime statistics in countries around the world. https://www.osac.gov
Pew Research Center: PRC is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts and is considered a nonpartisan fact tank that collects data through demographic research, public opinion polling, media content analysis, and “other empirical social science research” in an effort to inform “the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.” http://www.pewresearch.org/
The Terrorism and Extremist Violence in the United States (TEVUS) Database: This database integrates four open-source data sets to facilitate analyses of the behaviors, operations, and activities of violent extremists within the United States. It combines The American Terrorism Study (ATS), The Global Terrorism Database (GTD), The U.S. Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), and the Profiles of Perpetrators of Terrorism in the United States (PPT-US). http://www.start.umd.edu/research-projects/terrorism-and-extremist-violence-united-states-tevus-database
Treasury Direct: This website is linked to the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service.The website was created in order to let “you buy and redeem securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in paperless electronic form.” Here you can find anything related to the investments (debt and profit) of companies, institutions, and government agencies. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/
Worldometers: Owned by Dadax (an independent company with no political, governmental, or corporate affiliations), Worldometers provides real live counters of world statistics. They collect information from the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the OECD, and more. I have returned to this site over and over again for information relating to population statistics; however, it can be used for much much more. http://www.worldometers.info/
Creating A Nation United 