Social Sciences & Humanities

Sociology and anthropology research: data archives, standards and funders

Sociology and anthropology research runs on shared data archives, survey programmes and two long-established professional associations. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), founded in 1962 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, reports over 760 member institutions and over 16,000 studies with more than 70,000 datasets. Large survey and panel programmes include the General Social Survey, run by NORC since 1972 with National Science Foundation funding, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, running since 1968 at the University of Michigan. IPUMS at the University of Minnesota distributes harmonised census microdata, including more than a billion individuals from 365 censuses in 94 countries. In the UK, the UK Data Service is funded by UKRI through the Economic and Social Research Council. For anthropology, the Human Relations Area Files, hosted at Yale since 1949, provide eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.

Datasets are described with the Data Documentation Initiative metadata standards, whose Alliance secretariat is hosted by ICPSR. Preprints go to SocArXiv, launched in 2016, or SSRN, founded in 1994 and bought by Elsevier in 2016. The Social Sciences Citation Index covers roughly 3,400 journals. Research with people falls under the Common Rule, 45 CFR 46, in US government-funded work; the UK Data Service applies the Five Safes Framework to controlled data.

Funders include the NSF Sociology Program, which currently awaits a new publication, the NSF Cultural Anthropology Program, now archived with successor solicitation NSF 25-502, the ESRC, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, founded in 1941. The American Sociological Association (1905), the American Anthropological Association (1902) and the Social Science Research Council (1923) anchor the field, alongside journals such as the American Journal of Sociology and Current Anthropology.

New to the field? What is Sociology & Anthropology? →

Reviewed 5 November 2026 by CASRAI Editorial Board

Sources

NSF Sociology Program (PD 98-1331)(read 5 November 2026)
NSF Cultural Anthropology Program (archived, PD 98-1390)(read 5 November 2026)
American Sociological Association (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
American Anthropological Association (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
ICPSR (Wikipedia): 1962, 760 members, 16,000 studies(read 5 November 2026)
UK Data Service: About us(read 5 November 2026)
SocArXiv (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Social Sciences Citation Index (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
General Social Survey (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
IPUMS (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Common Rule (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Wenner-Gren Foundation (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Economic and Social Research Council (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Social Science Research Council (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Data Documentation Initiative (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Human Relations Area Files (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Social Science Research Network (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
Current Anthropology (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
American Journal of Sociology (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)

Field at a glance

Journals

American Journal of Sociology: Founded in 1895; published by University of Chicago Press on behalf of the University of Chicago Department of Sociology.Website ↗
Current Anthropology: Founded in 1959; University of Chicago Press for the Wenner-Gren Foundation; covers all anthropology subfields plus archaeology.Website ↗

Societies

American Sociological Association: Founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society; 9,433 members in 2025, 55 sections and sections-in-formation; publishes American Sociological Review and Contexts.Website ↗
American Anthropological Association: Founded in 1902; about 10,000 members and 40 sections; publishes American Anthropologist and runs the AnthroSource repository (launched 2004).Website ↗
Social Science Research Council: Independent nonprofit established in 1923 and incorporated in 1924; runs more than 20 programmes and offers fellowships including international fieldwork.Website ↗

Funders and programmes

NSF Sociology Program (PD 98-1331): Funds theory-driven basic research on social organisation, using original or secondary data; the page says it is waiting for a new publication.Website ↗
NSF Cultural Anthropology Program (PD 98-1390): Archived page; successor is NSF 25-502 (CA-SR Senior Research Awards); the program also ran doctoral dissertation research grants (DDRIG).Website ↗
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): UKRI council founded in 1965 as the Social Science Research Council; funds social and economic research, training and national data infrastructure.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Wenner-Gren Foundation: Founded as the Viking Fund in 1941 to support anthropological research; later renamed for Axel Wenner-Gren.Website ↗

Archives, facilities and data

ICPSR: Founded 1962 at the University of Michigan; over 760 member institutions and over 16,000 studies with more than 70,000 datasets; many files need membership or a fee.Website ↗ · Our guide →
General Social Survey: Run by NORC since 1972 with NSF funding; annual until 1994, then every even-numbered year; data downloadable with codebook.Website ↗
Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Started in 1968 with about 4,800 families at the University of Michigan; main support from NSF, NIA and NICHD; no identifying information is distributed.Website ↗
IPUMS: Housed at the University of Minnesota; IPUMS-International holds census microdata for more than a billion individuals from 365 censuses in 94 countries.Website ↗
UK Data Service: Principal UK repository for economic, population and social research data; UKRI funding through ESRC to 2030; uses the Five Safes Framework and the SafePod Network.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Human Relations Area Files (eHRAF): Based at Yale since 1949; eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology hold full documents indexed by subject at paragraph level.Website ↗

Standards and formats

Data Documentation Initiative (DDI): Family of metadata standards for research data, first released in 2000 as DDI-Codebook; DDI Alliance formed in 2003, secretariat at ICPSR.Website ↗
Common Rule (45 CFR 46): US baseline ethics rule for government-funded human-subjects research; a significant revision took effect in July 2018.Website ↗ · Our guide →

Preprints and indexes

SocArXiv: Open archive of the social sciences founded by Philip Cohen with the Center for Open Science in 2016, built on OSF; University of Maryland Libraries host since 2021.Website ↗ · Our guide →
SSRN: Founded in 1994; acquired by Elsevier in May 2016; open repository for early-stage research and preprints.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Social Sciences Citation Index: Clarivate index within Web of Science; roughly 3,400 social science journals, journal coverage from 1985.Website ↗ · Our guide →

38 pages across 7 topic areas

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Research Data Management

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Research Integrity & Compliance

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Learn how to search the Sociological Abstracts database on ProQuest, use the Thesaurus of Sociological Indexing Terms, and compare research alternativ…

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Research Ethics in Qualitative Research: Consent, Confidentiality, and Positionality
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Grants Management & Research Funding

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