CQ Congress Collection: Help

Help: Exporting Data FAQ

1. How do I find the data codebook?

Click here to download a PDF of the the data codebook.

2. How do I export data?

The Congress Collection data export function enables researchers to export data using one of two primary organizing variables: members or votes. All data is exported according to the following pattern, following an "airplane ticket" format which allows users to build their data search based on a series of prompts and option selections. To navigate between stages, click next or click on the stage to which you wish to return.

3. What are my options for receiving and saving data exports?

After you have selected member or vote data, your data set, and refined your data export specifications according to the options described below, you will need to choose a file format for your data export: comma delimited (Excel spreadsheet) or tab delimited (Text). Next, select whether you want to export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

4. How is data organized?

The Congress Collection has data on Congress members who have served from 1945 to present and data on votes from 1945 present, including all roll call votes since 1969. The member data includes biographical data, interest group ratings of members, and member vote records. The vote data includes vote totals, vote topics, and roll call vote results. After selecting whether you are seeking member data or vote data, click "next" to access the search delimiters available for exporting member or vote data. You will be able to further refine your data before exporting. Note: The export function will be enhanced in Fall 2007 to allow users to combine member and vote data in larger export bundles.

5. How do I select what member data I want to export?

After selecting Member Data from the first search page, select one of five options from the Member Select Data Set menu. This option allows you to export the following data sets:

Biographical characteristics of specific members
Member lists based on specific biographical characteristics
Interest group ratings for members, organized by biographical characteristics
Interest group ratings for specific members
Voting behavior of members, parties and delegations

The "sample" links will direct you to a help page with sample reports.

After selecting your preferred option, click "next" to refine your data set.

6. What biographical characteristics can I export?

Export data function allows you to export data on the following member biographical characteristics:

Congress
Position Held (Representative, Senator, Vice President, President)
Party
State
Year of Birth
Religion
Race/Ethnicity
Previous Occupation
Sex
Military Service

7. How do I export biographical characteristics for one or more specific members?

Choose "export biographical characteristics for specific members," the first option on the Select Data Set menu. You may select your preferred Congress from the drop down menu and up to ten members from that Congress by selecting the first letter of the member’s last name then browsing the member list to locate the member you are seeking. When you have made your selections, click "next" to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

8. What does a sample data export of biographical characteristics for specific members look like?

Below you will find export results for the biographical characteristics of Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, and Dianne Feinstein.

Sample Spreadsheet 1

9. How do I export member lists with specific biographical characteristics?

Select "export list of members by biographical characteristics," the second option from the Select Data set menu. Next, you may chose relevant member biographical characteristics from the dropdown menus. Note you must select one option. If you would like all biographical characteristics of every member during one Congress, do not select any other option than the Congress. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately.

10. What does a sample data export of a member list with biographical characteristics look like?

Below you will find export results for all African-Americans with military service from the 106th Congress.

Sample Spreadsheet 2

11. How do I export interest group ratings of members by biographical characteristics?

Select "export interest group ratings of members by biographical characteristics," the second third option on the Select Data Set menus. Next, you will be prompted to select your interest group, rating range and/or year(s) of rating, and member demographics from the dropdown menus provided on the following screen. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

12. What does a sample data export of interest group ratings of members by biographical characteristics look like?

Below you will find export results for ACLU 2000 ratings for Republicans from South Carolina.

13. How do I export interest group ratings for multiple members simultaneously?

Select "compare and export interest group ratings of members," the fourth option on the Select Data Set menu. You will then have the option to select your Congress and up to ten members from that Congress. If you wish to limit interest group ratings, you may list specific interest groups at the bottom of the form. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

14. What does a sample data export of interest group ratings for multiple members look like?

Below you will find export results for the National Taxpayers Association ratings for Hillary Clinton and Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

15. How do I export data on voting behavior of members?

Select "compare and export voting behavior of members, parties, and delegations," the fifth option on the Select Data Set menu. After clicking "Next", go to the "Compare and export voting behavior of members" box. Here, you can compare the voting behavior of two members by selecting last name initials, then specific members. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

16. What does a sample data export of voting behavior of members look like?

Below you will find export results that show how often Russ Feingold and Jim Jeffords voted together.

17. How do I export data on how a member’s voting behavior compares to his or her party?

Select "compare and export voting behavior of members, parties, and delegations", the fifth option on the Select Data Set menu. After clicking "next", go to "compare and export voting behavior of parties" box to find out how often members voted with or against their party. To select a member, select last name initials and then full names from the dropdown menus. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

18. What does a sample data export on party unity look like?

Below you will find export results for how often Newt Gingrich vote with Republicans during his time in the House.

19. How do I export data on how often a state delegation voted together?

Select "compare and export voting behavior of members, parties, and delegations", the fifth option on the Select Data Set menu. After clicking "next", go to "compare and export voting behavior of delegations" box. Select a state and a chamber of Congress from the dropdown menus. When you have made your selections, click next to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

20. What does a sample data export on voting behavior of state delegations look like?

Below you will find export results for how often senators from Delaware vote together in the 88th Congress.

21. How do I export data on votes in Congress, including Key Votes?

After selecting Vote Data on the initial export data page, you will be asked to select from five search options. The criteria displayed below allow you to export data in the following ways:

Export vote data for a specific member
Export vote totals and descriptions by:
- Congress
- Topic
- Bill number
Export member votes for a specific role call vote
Export comparison of member vote for a specific roll call vote
Analyze and export member votes for a specific roll call vote by biographical characteristics.
Compare and export voting behavior of members, parties, and delegations

As is the case with exporting member data, selecting any of these options will take you to the next step of the process allowing you to refine the data before exporting. The "sample" links will direct you to a help page with sample files.

If you choose to export member votes for a specific roll call vote, compare member votes for a specific role call vote, or export member votes for a specific vote by biographical characteristics, you will have the option of selecting any Key Vote from a given term of Congress, or searching for the floor vote that interests you. Votes for the current session of Congress are not available as votes cannot be completely recorded prior to its conclusion.

For information on using Data Cart to export floor votes, see #29 and #39.

22. How do I export data on all votes for a specific member?

After choosing "Votes" on the initial data export page, choose "export votes of a specific member" from the Select Data Set menu and click "next". You will then be prompted to enter a particular Congress. From there, select a member from the dropdown menu generated by selecting the member’s last name initial. Click "next" to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

23. What does a sample data export of votes for a specific member look like?

Below you will find export results for all of Sam Brownback’s votes for national security-related Key Vote bills in the 109th Congress.

24. How do I export vote totals and vote descriptions by Congress?

After choosing "Votes" on the initial data export page, select "export vote totals and descriptions by congress, topic, or bill number", the second option on the Select Data Set menu, and click "next". Select a congress from the dropdown menu. From here, you have the options of limiting your returns by selecting a particular bill or topic. To export the votes for an entire Congress, simply select the Congress and click next. Choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

For information on votes from the current session of Congress, see #20.

25. What does a sample data export of vote totals and vote descriptions by Congress look like?

Below you will find export results for vote totals from the 92nd Congress votes, limited legislation on the topic of Powers of Congress.

26. How do I export vote totals by topic?

After choosing "Votes" on the initial data export page, select "export vote totals and descriptions by congress, topic, or bill number", the second option on the Select Data Set menu, and click "next". Select a congress from the dropdown menu. From here, select your topic of interest, as well as specific bill number if desired. Click "next" to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

27. What does a sample data export of vote totals and vote descriptions by topic look like?

Below you will find vote results for all votes for Environment and Natural Resources, limited to votes cast in the 79th Congress.

28. How do I export vote totals by bill number?

Select "Votes" on the initial data export page. After choosing "next", click "export vote totals and descriptions by congress, topic, or bill number", the second option on the Select Data Set menu, and click "next" again. Select a congress from the dropdown menu. From here, enter your specific bill number. You have the additional option of indicating the relevant chamber of Congress and subject topic. Click "next" to choose your desired file format and export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

29. What does a sample data export of vote totals and vote descriptions by bill number look like?

Below you will find export results for vote totals and descriptions for 1984 Social Security Act Amendments, HR 1900.

30. How do I export data for a specific roll call vote that is a CQ Key Vote?

From the initial data export page, select "Votes" and click "next". Choose "export member votes for a specific role call vote", the third option on the Select Data Set menu. Click "next" and select the appropriate Congress from the dropdown menu on the following page. You will then be offered a list of CQ Key Votes to analyze. If you are unsure that the CQ Key Vote you have selected is the vote you would like to export, click "View CQ Key Vote" for a description.

After choosing your vote, check that you have selected the "export roll call" box before clicking "next" again. On the next page, choose your desired file format and indicate whether you want to export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

31. What does a sample data export of a specific roll call vote look like?

Below you will find export results for House votes for the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, HR12112.

32. How do I export data on a vote that is a roll call vote not designated as a CQ Key Vote?

From the initial data export page, select "Votes" and click "next". Choose "export member votes for a specific role call vote, the third option on the Select Data Set menu. If you are seeking a floor vote that is not designated as a CQ Key Vote by CQ editors, type your keyword into the Floor Vote Search form listed below on the same page. You will have the option to "search all text" or "search titles only." There are additional search delimiters available to refine your results, including congress, chamber, topic, bill number, and vote date. Once you have hit "search", you will be directed to a results page that will allow you to locate the floor vote you are seeking. After selecting the appropriate vote, the vote description will display on your screen. From here, you can use a variety of export tools to execute data commands using Data Export or Data Cart.

For information on Export Tools, see #40.

33. How do I export data that compares member votes for a specific roll call vote?

From the initial data export page, select "Votes" and click "next". Choose "export comparisons of member votes for a specific roll call vote", the fourth option on the Select Data Set menu. Click "next" and select the appropriate Congress from the dropdown menu on the following page. You will then be offered a list of key votes to analyze. If you are unsure of which vote to select, click "View CQ Key Vote" for a description of a key vote in the dropdown menu.

If you are seeking a floor vote that is not designated as a CQ Key Vote by CQ editors, follow the process described in #31.

The box below the Key Vote menu will prompt you to select the last name of the member whose vote you wish to analyze by selecting the last name initial from the first dropdown menu. The second menu will then display all relevant last names, from which you can make your selection. Click "add" in order to add them to the list. You can select up to ten members in this fashion.

Click "next" to navigate to the next stage, where you will choose your desired file format and indicate whether you want to export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

34. What does a sample data export comparing members' votes for a specific roll call look like?

Below you will find export results how Terry Everett and Sheila Jackson-Lee voted on the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" House Conference Report (S. 3) during the 108th Congress.

35. How do I export data of member’s votes on a specific roll call vote limited to members of specific biographical characteristics?

After choosing "votes" on the initial screen, select "analyze and export member votes for a specific roll call vote by biographical characteristics". This is the fifth option on the Select Data Set menu. After clicking "next", the Refine Data Set age will allow you to select a Congress and CQ Key Vote for which you would like roll call vote results. From there, you can select biographical characteristics of the members for whom you are seeking results.

When you have finished designing your data export, click "next". On the next page, choose your desired file format and indicate whether you want to export your data to a disk or email account. Exporting your data to a disk will allow you to open the data immediately on your screen.

If you are seeking a floor vote that is not designated as a CQ Key Vote by CQ editors, click on the "click here" prompt. This will take you to a search page that will allow you to locate the floor vote you are seeking. From that floor vote page, you can analyze and export data of member’s votes on the vote limited to members of specific biographical characteristics.

If you are seeking a floor vote that is not designated as a CQ Key Vote by CQ editors, type your keyword into the Floor Vote Search form listed below on the same page. You will have the option to "search all text" or "search titles only." There are additional search delimiters available to refine your results, including congress, chamber, topic, bill number, and vote date. Once you have hit "search", you will be directed to a results page that will allow you to locate the floor vote you are seeking.

36. What does a sample data export of member’s votes on a specific roll call vote, limited to members of specific biographical characteristics look like?

Below you will find export results for how Baptists vote on the 109th Congress immigration overhaul.

37. How do I export advanced data on multiple votes, including Key Votes?

If you wish to export data on more than one vote which is not a Key Vote, Data Cart, an advanced export option, allows you to save multiple votes in one location. You can select up to 50 votes from your Data Cart for simultaneous data export using the second Data Cart option, "Export votes from your Data Cart." If you wish to export data on more than 50 votes, we recommend downloading vote data in a series of data exports. Data Cart can export data on specific votes and Key Votes from any Congress. For information on adding votes to your Data Cart, see #39. This advanced export tool can also export Key Votes for a specific Congress using the first Data Cart option, "Export all Key Votes for a Congress." Votes for the current session of Congress are not available as votes cannot be completely recorded prior to its conclusion.

38. What is the data cart and how does it expand my research options?

The data cart is an advanced data export function which has been designed for researchers who wish to export data on both members and votes. After researchers have chosen relevant votes for a data export by selecting votes from the data cart, results for members, interest group ratings, and votes will be displayed as indicated by selected search delimiters. The results will be delivered in three separate worksheets within a single Excel workbook. The data cart function is capable of exporting data on multiple votes simultaneously.

39. How does the Data Cart export process work?

A Data Cart export involves four steps, which are described briefly here and in detail in separate questions.

1. After selecting the Data Cart function on the initial start page for data exports, follow the instructions in #39 to add votes to your data cart.

2. In order to return to your Data Cart and select your vote for data export, click the Export Data tool on the sidebar again. Select "Advanced data export using Data Cart: Members and Votes." When the desired votes are present, ensure that no irrelevant votes are selected and then click "next."

3. On the following page, you will select your search delimiters, described in #44. When you have finished, click "next."

4. You will then be directed to the final page, where you will confirm the format of your data export and check the box below to indicate your agreement with CQ Press conditions. Select "Export Data" to begin downloading your Data Cart export. For more information on format, see #47.

40. How do I add a vote to my data cart?

After selecting the data cart option on the initial page, you will be prompted to select "Export all key votes for a Congress" or "Export votes from my data cart." If you do not yet have the required votes in your data cart, select "Add vote to Data Cart" under the latter option. You will be guided to a search form, where you will be able to enter keywords and advanced search options. After selecting your vote of interest, you will be directed to a vote description. Select "Add to Data Cart" under Vote Export tools. The vote will then be available from your Data Cart for data export. Repeat this process as necessary to add more votes to the Data Cart. All votes in your Data Cart will be automatically selected for your data export unless you remove the check marks next to the votes you wish to omit from your research.

41. How do I use the Vote Export Tools?

In order to locate Vote Export Tools, select "Add Vote to Data Cart" under the second Data Cart option. You will be guided to the vote Search Form, which will allow you to search for your desired vote by keyword and a host of other search delimiters. Once you have identified and selected the vote in question, you will be directed to a vote description. The Vote Export Tools are in the vote description, below the vote box score and to the right of Vote Analysis Tools.

To locate Vote Export Tools using Data Export, select "Votes" on the initial Data Export page. On the next page, choose "export member votes for a specific role call vote," the third option on the Select Data Set menu. If you are seeking a floor vote that is not designated as a CQ Key Vote by CQ editors, type your keyword into the Floor Vote Search form listed below on the same page. You will have the option to "search all text" or "search titles only." There are additional search delimiters available to refine your results, including congress, chamber, topic, bill number, and vote date. Once you have hit "search", you will be directed to a results page that will allow you to locate the floor vote you are seeking.

These Vote Export Tools consist of the following options: Export Voting Behavior; Export Roll Call; and Add to Data Cart. For information on adding votes to your Data Cart, see #39.

42. How do I export voting behavior?

When you select "Export voting behavior," you will be directed to the Advanced Floor Vote Analysis stage. You will be able to compare specific member votes or member votes by biographical characteristics.

In order to compare particular members, choose the "Compare Members on the Selected Vote" option. After selecting your two members, select "Compare Members." This will direct you to a page with their votes and state and party affiliation. For more information on analyzing member voting behavior, see #32.

If you wish to compare voting behavior based on biographical characteristics, select "Analyze Voting Behavior for the Selected Vote Based on the Following" and choose your preferred search delimiters below. When you have finished, choose "Analyze Voting Behavior." You will be directed to a page with roll call results based on the member biographical characteristics you selected. For more information on retrieving vote data based on member biographical characteristics, see #34.

43. How do I export a roll call?

In order to export a roll call, select "Export Roll Call" under Vote Export Tools. You will be directed to a simple data export completion page, where you will be prompted to indicate format preferences as well as your willingness to comply with CQ Press conditions for data exports. After selecting these and "Export Data," the roll call will be exported in your preferred format.

44. How can Your Profile enhance my data export options?

Your Profile will allow you to save favorite documents and votes for later searches and data exports. Unless you login to Your Profile, your Data Cart will be emptied when your session times out.

This feature allows you to maintain two Data Carts, in that you will have a collection of saved Data Cart votes in Your Profile, as well a temporary Data Cart based on votes added during the current session.

For more information on creating Your Profile, logging in, and saving documents, see the Your Profile section in the general help/FAQ file for the Congress Collection database.

45. How do I export vote data using the data cart without signing into Your Profile?

In order to export vote data, simply add votes to your data cart by following the same process described in #39. When your desired votes are in your Data Cart, unselect any votes you do not want to include in the export. Click "next" to select your preferred search delimiters before completing the data export.

46. How do I select search delimiters in data cart exports?

Search delimiters are available in three categories: Member Data, Vote Data, and Interest Group Ratings. Returns for these categories will be displayed in three separate worksheets within the Excel file which contains your Data Cart export. All variables will be automatically selected for data export, but you may uncheck those that do not pertain to your interests. For some queries, basic search delimiters available in simple exports of vote or member data will be more appropriate. For more information, see #46.

Variables for Member Biographical Data include:

Religion
Race
Occupation
Military Service
Date Born
Date Died
Sex
Party
State
District

Variables for Vote Data include:

Chamber
Congress
Vote Date
Bill Number
Key Vote
Chamber
Procedural
Vote Description Link

Variables for Interest Group Ratings include:

American Civil Liberties Union
American Conservative Union
Americans for Democratic Action
American Security Council
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
Consumer Federation of America
Committee on Political Education of the AFL-CIO
League of Conservation Voters
National Education Association
National Taxpayers Union

47. How do I export data targeted to specific vote characteristics or member biographical characteristics?

The Data Cart is designed to return the maximum number of results and variety of information, combining vote data, member data, and interest group ratings in a single data export. If you have a more targeted query, it may be more efficient to use the simple data export. For instance, if you want to restrict vote data to votes which took place in a particular Congress, the data cart could only list the Congress for each vote, as opposed to a specific session of Congress such as the 110th. In this case, the Data Cart would return a larger file with information not relevant to your research. The same holds true for biographical characteristics: selecting "religion" will return the religious affiliation for all relevant members, but will not produce a data export returning only Methodists.

48. What format is used to deliver Data Cart exports?

Due to the volume of entries exported using Data Cart and the popularity of Excel with researchers, all data exported using Data Cart will be downloaded in Excel files.

49. How do I view results from a data cart export?

Once the data export has been downloaded using Data Cart, you will be able to open an Excel file containing all of the requested data. The first worksheet will contain member data, including all selected biographical characteristics. The second worksheet will contain all requested interest group rankings for members recorded on the roll call for the votes in question. Finally, the third worksheet will contain the votes themselves, with member positions on all requested votes. Vote data may be based on all key votes from a given Congress, or selected votes from your data cart.

50. What is a MemberID?

A MemberID allows you to track a specific politician throughout a political career, regardless of positions held or states and districts represented. This will simplify research which covers a longer time span. For instance, John McCain will always be identified by the same MemberID in Data Cart exports, despite having served as a Representative and a Senator.

51. What is a PostnID?

A PostnID supplements the MemberID, conveying information on the state, district, or congressional affiliation of a given member. This will allow researchers to track career paths of members and identify when they changed jobs in Congress, whether that entailed switching chambers or geographical areas. Therefore, John McCain will have different PostnID numbers for his time in the House and Senate.

52. Why do data cart downloads take longer than normal data exports?

Due to the complexity of the information being compiled, Data Cart exports will take longer than simple member or vote data exports. This is particularly true when the requested information pertains to more than one Congress. In some cases, Mozilla Firefox enables faster data export returns than Internet Explorer.

53. Who do I contact for technical support?

For technical assistance, please submit a request at http://www.cqpress.com/webhelp or call 1-866-4CQPRESS (866-427-7737) or 202-729-1900 and select option 4.

54. How do I report an error?

If you discover any error, have a recommendation, or would like to make a special request for data, please let us know by emailing Marc Segers at msegers@cqpress.com.