Professor Hemesath - Fall 2008

This library guide contains information on:

1. The Literature Review
2. The Data Search
3. Health Economics Resources

The Literature Review

See the subject guide Economics: Literature for general guidance on using both the professional literature and newspapers and trade publications for your literature search.

Guidance for searching EconLit
Tips for making the most of your search in this key index of Economic scholarly literature.

Some of the JEL subject descriptors of particular use to this seminar are:

• H-Public Economics
• I-Health, Education, and Welfare
• K-Law and Economics
• P-Economic Systems

Remember that both searching and browsing are worthwhile strategies. Spend some time with keywords and some time browsing the contents of specific journals or articles assigned specific subject headings.

Most Important Indexes to Journal Literature:

• EconLit
• Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science)

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The Data Search

Where to Start
Data Archives and Catalogs
Guides to Finding Data (search across multiple sites)
Government Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations
International Data

Where to Start

Take cues from the literature you already have for possible data sources. Early on, search the following resources, which will either lead you directly to data or will give you vital information about who collects the type of data you need.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
This compendia of statistics produced by the U.S. government contains basic tables summarizing the vast amount of data collected by the government. Find a table here that is related to your topic and follow the cited source to identify which agency collects the data you need. Also available in print in the Ready Reference collection at C 3.134: 2004-2005.

Lexis-Nexis Statistical
Search summaries of statistical publications, then link to the full-text of selected publications on Statistical Universe and government Web sites. This comprehensive database includes the three major statistical indexes (American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, and Index to International Statistics).

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Data Archives and Data Catalogs

**ICPSR
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), located within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization serving member colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. ICPSR provides: access to the world's largest archive of computerized social science data, training facilities for the study of quantitative social analysis techniques, and resources for social scientists using advanced computer technologies.

UK Data Archive
A large collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities, this national archive collects, preserves, and disseminates several thousand datasets to researchers. Though Carleton does not have a subscription to access their data, their online catalog is an excellent way to search for existing data.

Data and Program Library Service
This data library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a searchable catalog of data as well as a browsable archive of locally collected data.

Data Archives
This page from the web site "Political Science Resources" lists links to major international data archives.

See also Data on the Net (below) for links to data libraries and archives that can be searched on the web.

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Web Guides to Data

Data on the Net
From the University of California, San Diego's searchable listing of 850 Internet sites of numeric Social Science statistical data, data catalogs, data libraries, social science gateways, addresses and more.

Economic Data Sources from the Data and Program Library Service
An annotated list of links to data-related web sites. Go to the main Internet Crossroads page and search all 720 annotated links.

Economic Growth Resources
Lots of information here, includes links to data sets available on the Internet, over the WWW or by anonymous FTP.

RFE - Resources for Economists on the Internet
A great place to begin; comprehensive.

WebEc - Data
Many data collection links from this major econ site; arrangement based generally on Journal of Economic Literature categories.

UMichigan's Statistical Resources on the Web
Comprehensive and highly recommended statistics site from the U. of Michigan Libraries-Documents Department. The Comprehensive Economics and the Foreign and International Economics sections are quite useful.

Econ Data & Links
From CAL State Fresno; current data.

Statistical Data Locators
Global coverage; links to regional IGO sites (very useful), private research databases, official statistical agencies; good for difficult to locate information; coverage for Asia is strongest; maintained by the Library of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. (Start with one of the links at the top - page looks empty at first but don't be fooled).

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Government Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations
International Data

Government agencies and nonprofits are often the most exhaustive and credible sources of data for your research. International data is collected and published by government and intergovernmental organizations. Refer to the Economics: Statistics and Data Research Guide for resource recommendations.

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Health Economics Data on the Web

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AHCRP provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. Categories include associations, databases, government, journals and publications.

Center for Studying Health System Change
Nonpartisan policy center conducts both nationally representative household surveys and nationally representative physician surveys from the late 1990s and early 2000s relating to care access, quality, and coverage.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Formerly the Health Care Financing Administration, the CMMS measures spending for health care in the U.S. by type of service deliveres (hospital care, physician services, nursing home care, etc.) and source of funding for those services (private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, out-of-pocket, etc.). Expenditure estimates for 1960-1998 are currently available in data files or in published articles listed. 

FDA
Research federal legislation and budgets for food and drug oversight and programs.

HCUPnet - Health Cost and Utilization Project
"A tool for identifying, tracking, analyzing, and comparing statistics on hospitals at the national, regiona, and state level." Use this web site to search for and compare data on hospital stays, morbidity, hospital procedure, charges, and other data collected at the state level and reported to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which developed and maintains this site.

HealthEconomics.Com
This site contains a world-wide list of resources on health economics, pharmacoeconomics, outcomes research, managed care, value in medicine, health-related quality of life, performance assessment, and quality of care.

Health Insurance Data from the U.S. Census and BLS: The Census collects data on health insurance coverage and related indicators.  The Current Population Survey (CPS) has asked about health insurance coverage since 1980.  The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) asks questions about health status and use of health care services.

Health Services Research Web Sites
Annoted list of links, arranged by topic and alphabetically, to web sites providing information on health services research. Includes links to state and national data sets and data sources, associations, and more.

HRS and Ahead-U. of Michigan
The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) are nationally representative longitudinal data collections that examine retirement and the aging of society.

ICPSR Health and Medical Care Archive
"The Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA) is sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , the largest health care philanthropy organization in the United States. HMCA is the official data archive of the Foundation, and is devoted to preserving and making available research data that have significant secondary-analytic value for expanding knowledge on, and ultimately contributing to, improvement of the health of people in the United States." (Description quoted from the ICPSR site).

Institute of Health Economics
IHE is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to deliver outstanding health economics, health outcomes and health policy research and related services.

Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
Multidisciplinary journal published at Duke University. Available at Carleton: Project Muse.

MCBS
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey collects information on health status and use from a nationally representative sample of Medicare users.

MedWeb
MedWeb is a catalog of biomedical and health related web sites, primarily for Emory.

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
A division of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the NCHS is the principle health statistics agency of the U.S. Government. This agency's web site offers access to macro- and microdata, including such surveys and collection systems as the National Health Care Survey, National Health Interview Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Immunization Survey, and the National Vital Statistics System. The FastStats portion of the site is a quick topical guide to quick facts, source statistics and related information.

National Medical Expenditure Survey &  Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Annually surveys a nationally representative number of households and individuals, and their providers, on health status, use of services, satisfaction, and more.  Also surveys employers on health plans offered.

National Women's Health Information Center
Extensive collection of indicators on women's health, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Includes the Quick Health Data Online database (QUDO), the Women's Health Chartbook, and Health Disparities Profiles for each state.

NCSL's Health Policy
National Conference of State Legislatures allows the public to access selected documents produced by state governments.

NIH
Look to the website of the federal government's National Institutes of Health for data on clinical trials and government funding of medical research.

PHRMA
The website for the pharmaceutical industry association contains data (from the industry) about trends in R&D budgets and marketing. 

RAND
RAND is a nonprofit institution that analyzes and researches public policy.

Urban Institute's Health Policy Center
The Center is primarily concerned with issues related to how the dynamics of the health care market affect health care financing, costs, and access.

UMichigan's Statistical Resources on the Web: Health
Collection of statistical links on the web related specifically to health.

WDI
World Development Indicators will have specific indicators relevant to health and welfare.

WHO
The World Health Organization provides statistics on 70 core indicators for the 193 WHO member states, as well as extensive data on other international health concerns.

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