21 Statistics - Searching Specific Formats part 1 (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
21 Statistics - Searching Specific Formats part 1 (Information Research)
links and more at http://spireproject.com/stats.htm
Statistics allow us to lie with confidence. Dense and factual,
carefully interpreted statistics are also far more reliable than
personal experience. The expense of collecting meaningful statistics
limits the types of organizations involved in this work. This divide is
also a very elegant way to divide this field.
#1 National Statistical Agencies,
#2 Government Agency Statistics,
#3 Commercial Statistics,
#4 Association Statistics.
Statistical Directories
Statistical Abstracts (statistical bibliographies and statistical
directories) describe sources of statistics.
Instat publishes "International Statistics Sources: subject guide to
Sources of International Comparative Statistics" but I found this less
than brilliant. A better link is Statistical Sources (by Gale
Research), a basic and very large statistical abstracts directory.
On the internet, US government statistics are well recorded in
Statistical Abstract of the United States 1999
(http://www.census.gov/stat_abstract) a 1000+ page document made
available online in pdf format by the US Census Bureau.
Statistical Venues
Many statistics appear regularly in journals, annual reports and
newspapers. Specialty libraries, particularly specialty librarians, may
be aware of additional statistics.
If an expert goes through the effort to collect statistics, you are far
more likely to locate them by undertaking an article search, (looking
particularly for journal articles) and a book search. In both cases,
limit your search to only the last couple of years or you will locate
very old, dated statistics. A particularly sophisticated approach could
be to ask BusLib-l (Business Librarians' Electronic Discussion List)
since this is a mailing list of librarians. Use this resource
sparingly, and only after having exhausted other avenues.
National Statistical Agencies
Most every country in the world has a single government agency
dedicated to collecting, collating and publishing national statistics.
Statistics Canada, Australian Bureau of Statistics, The US Census
Bureau, The (UK) Office for National Statistics; we have a fine page on
national statistical agencies (http://spireproject.com/bureau.htm).
These organizations manage the census, watch the movement of money and
goods in and out of the country, and undertake a wide range of other
surveys. Finding these statistics is relatively straight forward, with
several directories on the internet.
Government Agency Statistics
Most government agencies collect reams of data on the industries they
monitor. Sometimes these statistics are published, sometimes you have
to ask for them, only rarely are they considered private or
unavailable.
Here in Western Australia, the government departments for Tourism,
Labour, Small Business and Big Business all publish top-rate statistics
free to interested parties. Our Dept of Tourism keeps a directory of
future tourism related projects.
When government statistics are bound and published, try the government
book databases. Remember MOCAT, AGIP and part of UKOP are free online.
Again, some US government statistics are well recorded in Statistical
Abstract of the United States 1999 by the US Census Bureau, online in
pdf format.
Association Statistics
Valuable statistics only come from motivated sources, and associations
are certainly motivated. Start with a list of likely associations, then
call up and either explain you needs or ask for their price list for
publications and statistics. For AU$25, the Australian Booksellers
Association publishes a brilliant analysis of the book industry.
Association statistics are financially informative, as the intended
audience is association members.
Commercial Statistics
Statistics created for sale are frequent in the financial sector but
exist in a number of further situations. Banks use more professionally
prepared market reports such as reports by the Australian economic
consultancy firm Syntec Economic Services, Guide to Growth, which
examines Australian industries financially with forecasts. IBIS
(www.ibis.com), another economic consultancy, also publishes to this
market.
Professionally prepared market reports are also emerging, with the full
text immediately from the commercial information market. Each database
retailer has several such databases, but often these databases are
focused globally or in a different country. Sheila Webber
(http://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/people/sheila) has a very good list of
firms which market research reports.
Conclusion
Central to the Internet Revolution is the liberation of just this kind
of information. Increasingly, we will see the publishing of such
documents on the internet, but for the few statistics currently online,
there is no effective search. You can only browse government websites.
Away from the internet, you must either contact the agencies directly
(in the hope they do collect statistics), look at the statistical
directories or seek agency statistics in other documents: books,
pamphlets, newsletters.
Once you have proceeded this far, it is wise to stop looking for
statistics, and begin again at sophisticated commentary - which is
likely to include supporting statistics or references to statistics
anyway. Seek expert guidance from others who would know of hard-to-find
statistics.
One approach to finding statistics is to reverse the process. Who would
prepare the statistic? Statistics are created in a logical manner, in a
very expected manner. Tourism statistics? - most likely undertaken by
either the government tourism authority, a tourism association or the
national statistical agency. There are few others who could even
consider preparing tourism statistics. If you can think through the
preparation process, you can usually identify who would have created
the statistic. (Internet statistics are the exception - too many
organizations are creating statistics of worth.)
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