LibGuides: Social Welfare Policies & Services: How to Use Government Information for Policy Research

How Do I Get Started?

Start by identifying your policy or topic.
Determine what type of policy it is: Federal (U.S. Congress, Government Agency), State (NJ Legislature) or Local (municipal ordinances). This will help you to know which site to start searching.
Locate your primary sources: bills, statutes (laws), regulations, legislative history, agency reports. Places to search: For Federal use www.govinfo.gov or For NJ State use www.njleg.state.nj.us
Look for secondary sources: These will help you to explain and analyze the policy. Secondary sources can be: journal articles, scholarly books, think-tank or advocacy reports
Find statistics to support the policy: see the How Do I Find Stats box below for the top places to find data. Search Tip: Try a Google Search for [Name of your policy or Act] AND "data" or "annual report" or "impact evaluation"

Where Do I Go To Find...

CQ Congress Collection
. This collection is a powerful research and reference tool for analyzing the history and development, legislation, powers, and personalities of the U.S. Congress. This wealth of data is presented with nonbiased commentary and vital biographical and voting data for members of Congress.
Govinfo.gov
This site provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government and allows you to search, browse and download documents. Includes full-text Federal Register, Congressional Record, Hearing, Presidential Documents, Budget, and more.

HeinOnline
HeinOnline is the world's largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains comprehensive coverage from inception of U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents and more than 2,700 scholarly journals. HeinOnline provides topic specific databases including all of the world's constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, Criminal Justice, Religion and the Law, and Women and the Law among others. Full text of state and federal case law powered by Fastcase is included.
Westlaw Campus Research Law, News and Business
A comprehensive collection of primary and secondary law for thorough research.

Law Journal Library
Law Journal Library is HeinOnline's signature collection of more than 3,200 fully searchable, image-based journals, each dating back to the first issue ever published. This scholarly journals database spans more than 43 million pages and 40 disciplines, bridging a crucial research gap.
Law Reviews & Journals (Westlaw)
This subscription contains more than 600 law reviews and journals, providing incisive, authoritative, and professional insight. Coverage begins with the early 1980s for top law reviews, such as the Harvard Law Review.
Law Research Centers Papers (SSRN)
SSRN, formerly known as Social Science Research Network, is an open access research platform used to share early-stage research, evolve ideas, measure results, and connect scholars around the world. From submission to distribution, the potential is there for your research to reach millions of SSRN viewers and subscribers around the world.
Just Security
"Just Security is an editorially independent, non-partisan, daily digital law and policy journal that elevates the discourse on national security, democracy and the rule of law, and rights."

NJ Legislature
Use this site to find NJ bills, watch proceedings, and find legislative publications & reports.
NJ Statutes
NJ laws enacted can be found in this searchable database organized by titles.

Westlaw Campus Research Law, News and Business
A comprehensive collection of primary and secondary law for thorough research.

Govinfo.gov
This site provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government and allows you to search, browse and download documents. Includes full-text Federal Register, Congressional Record, Hearing, Presidential Documents, Budget, and more.

HeinOnline
HeinOnline is the world's largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains comprehensive coverage from inception of U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents and more than 2,700 scholarly journals. HeinOnline provides topic specific databases including all of the world's constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, Criminal Justice, Religion and the Law, and Women and the Law among others. Full text of state and federal case law powered by Fastcase is included.

Google Scholar
Google Scholar offers free access to published opinions of U.S. state, appellate, and supreme court cases since 1950; U.S. federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923; and U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1791.

Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education has the nation’s largest newsroom dedicated to covering colleges and universities.

Business Market Research Collection (ProQuest)
This database contains company, industry, economic and geopolitical market research from three sources, including Hoover's Company Profiles, OxResearch from Oxford Analystica, and Snapshots
Reference USA
Provides detailed, current directory information on more than 12 million U.S. Businesses, 102 million U.S. residents, 683,000 U.S. healthcare providers, 1 million Canadian businesses and 11 million Canadian residents.

Company Investigator (Westlaw)
"Company Investigator on Westlaw consolidates a wealth of business data to eliminate hours of research while helping you make informed decisions. Whether you need to access corporate filings, negative news, or other adverse records, Company Investigator offers a full suite of business solutions, so you can get the job done quicker."
ProQuest Research Library
Offers a mix of trade and academic journals and news information in business.

Wall Street Journal (full interface)
Made possible with a generous contribution by the Leon Hess School of Business. Full consumer interface of the Wall Street Journal

ABI/INFORM Complete
Business, Management and Trade - scholarly and trade journal articles, dissertations, market reports, industry reports, business cases and global and trade news

How Do I Find Secondary Sources?

1. Start by using Hawkfind to do an advanced search on the library databases. Search tip: Instead of using the name of the policy or act as the keyword try using a description of what the policy is about. For example: If my policy is the Freedom to Read Act in NJ, I would search "Book Banning" AND "Policy"

2. Use the filters on the left hand navigation to make your search more precise. Try Content Type = Journal Article, Refine Your Search = Scholarly & Peer-Reviewed, Discipline = Social Welfare & Social Work.

Use the library's book catalog and trying searching by the major topic of your policy or act. For example, for The Freedom to Read Act try doing a keyword search for "book banning" or "intellectual freedom." If you can't find a book, try searching on Google Books or Amazon and submitting an InterLibrary Loan form to get the book for free at our library.

Where Do I Find Statistics?

NJ State Health Assessment Data (NJSHAD)
Includes data on air quality, health care access, environmental factors, immunization, diseases, and much more.
NJSDC - New Jersey State Data Center
NJSDC is a cooperative project of the state & the Census Bureau. It consists of a network of over 110 state, county, regional, and local agencies. A variety of statistical reports from State and Federal agencies may be accessed through the NJSDC network. Data from the state and sub-state demographic and economic data prepared by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development are also available through the NJSDC.
NJOIT Open Data Center
The official statewide data portal hosting datasets across health, economy, environment, transportation, and more.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment trends, wages, cost of living, inflation, industries, unemployment, workplace safety
U.S. Census Bureau
Population demographics, housing, business/economic data, community-level profiles, poverty, employment, education
CDC
Public health statistics, mortality rates, chronic disease, mental health, substance use
Pew Research Center
Social trends, public opinion, civic life, religion, technology and internet, demographics
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Early childhood and K–12 through higher education and adult learning—including enrollment trends, demographic breakdowns, test scores (such as NAEP), school funding and per-pupil spending, teacher workforce data, student loan debt and financial aid patterns, graduation and retention rates, school safety
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
Crime, policing, incarceration, victims of crime

Unesco Institute for Statistics
Education enrollment, literacy rates, cultural research, heritage data, gender parity, global education resources
United Nations Data
Includes datasets in economics, demographics, environments, gender, homicide, human development, marriage and more.
World Development Indicators
Poverty rates, education access, health outcomes, nutrition, economic indicators, environmental metrics

Statistics by Population or Community

American Community Survey
From the U.S. Census Bureau, find information on populations trends and housing.
KFF
KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) is a nonprofit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. KFF develops and runs its own policy analysis, journalism and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with major news organizations. KFF serves as a nonpartisan source of facts, analysis and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community and the public.
Roper iPoll
Question-level results for polls on public policy, social issues, government, health, science, pop culture, and more.

How Do I Find More Detailed Information?

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