CQ Congress Collection: Help

Help: Advanced Member Analysis

Advanced Member Analysis is available via link off the left navigation bar. Clicking on the link takes users to a search page, where a series of text boxes and drop-down boxes allow for a robust search capability.

Users who are interested in a particular member of Congress may type the name in the First Name and Last Name text boxes. To search for all members whose first name is "Robert" or whose last name is "Smith," type in the appropriate text box and leave the other text box empty. Clicking on the "Find Members" button will return a list of members who meet your search criteria.

Under the heading "Find Members by Demographics" are a number of drop-down boxes that can be used in any combination to filter the results you will receive. You may limit your search to members

of one or any Congress
of one or any position (representative, senator, vice president)
of one or any party
of one or any state
who were born in a particular year or within a range of years
of one or any religion
of one or any previous occupation
of one or either sex
who served in the military, did not serve, or either

For example, you might search for California Democrats who served in the 102d Congress, or for Baptists who served in the 105th Congress.

A Note on Religion

The religious designations in the "Religion" drop-down box are those self-assigned by members of Congress. The CQ Congress Collection database does not include every religion but only those cited by at least one member of Congress. In other words, if no member described himself or herself as a Jehovah's Witness, then there will be no "Jehovah's Witness" entry in the database or the drop-down menu.

Advanced Member Analysis Results

Your search results page will list the members who meet your search criteria, their party affiliation, state, position (senator, representative, or vice president), and term in office. The results can be sorted, ascending or descending alphabetically, by member name, party, state, or position; the results can also be sorted ascending or descending by term of office. The members' names are links to their biographies and Member Biography Box Score.

Across the top of the search results page are a number of useful links:

Save to Favorite List: Each line of the search results page is preceded by a check box. Any boxes that are checked when "Save to Favorite List" is clicked will send those checked documents to your favorites list.
Modify Search: This link will return you to the Advanced Member Analysis search page, with all of your earlier selections intact. This feature allows you to run a new search without entering all of your selections a second time.
New Search: Returns you to the Advanced Member Analysis search page, but with all of your earlier selections reset to the CQ Congress Collection defaults.