In April 2026, the University of California-Berkeley released the first version of their Federal Data Field Guide, a free guide explaining and exploring publicly available federal datasets and how they are collected, maintained, and used.
The guide examines 8 categories of federal data:
- Statistical data, measuring population-level characteristics, such as that collected in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’s Consumer Price Index.
- Administrative data, collected through routine government operations, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s Form 990 filed by nonprofit organizations , or when high school students complete the Department of Education’s FAFSA form to determine financial aid eligibility.
- Geospatial data captures spatial and environmental information, through satellite imagery, GPS-enabled surveys, and other location-specific methods. Examples include the North American Bat Monitoring Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD).
- Scientific data, collected to advance scientific knowledge through both federal scientific agencies and federally-funded institutions, includes programs like the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)’s Framingham Heart Study and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Open Science Data Repository.
- Accountability data provides transparency into government functions such as spending and policy implementation. This can include data like the number of Department of Justice’s Freedom of Information Act requests and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP Application Processing Timeliness rate.
- Evaluation data, used to determine the impact or effectiveness of government initiatives, such as the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Weatherization Assistance Program or the Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse.
- Navigation data helps people access the information, programs, services and/or benefits they need, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s Access to Care site, or the National Institute of Health (NIH)’s Clinical Trial registry.
- Reference data provides structure, standardization, and consistency across the other data sets. Examples include the National Spatial Reference System from NOAA/National Geodetic Survey, and the National Vulnerability Database from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The Federal Data Field Guide also examines some of the policies, laws, and regulations that shape the data collection efforts of the federal government, many of which may sound familiar: the Privacy Act of 1974, HIPAA, FIOA, and the Paperwork Reduction Act, among many others.
This guide is a great place to start if you’re curious about what data our federal government collects, as well as how (and why) they go about doing it.
Ross, Denice W. and Marcum, Christopher Steven. 2026. “Federal Data Field Guide.” Version 1. University of California, Berkeley. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15779/J2P043
