Statistics Research Guide

Sub-topics may include: variance, standard deviation, normal distribution, estimation, hypothesis testing. A related term is PROBABILITY.

Guide Contents

Print Resources

Statistical Data and Information Resources

Explanatory Resources to the Field of Statistics

Introductory and Self-learning

Intermediate

Interpretation and Use

Audiovisual Materials

Online Databases (Journal , Magazine, and Newspaper Articles)

Web Sites

Web Resources for Statistical Info and Data

U.S. Government Sites

Other Internet Resources

Web Tutorials and Self-learning for Statistics

Print Resources

Search the Public Access Catalog (PAC) by subject or keyword.  Try some of the following subject headings:  statistics, statistics -- dictionaries, statistical methods, commercial statistics, correlation (statistics), educational statistics, industrial statistics, mathematical statistics, medical statistics, political statistics, probabilities, vital statistics.  Try a title search for statistics.

Statistical Data and Information Resources from the Library's Reference and Circulating Collection:

The Illustrated Book of World Rankings             
Statistical  Handbooks on various subjects
Statistical Abstracts of local, national and international scope
Statistical Abstract of the United States, one of the most heavily used resources for national statistics is available in print and online versions from the Office of Government Publications.

Explanatory Resources to the Field of Statistics Found in the Circulating Collection:

Introductory and Self-learning

Basic Statistics
Basic Business Statistics
A First Reader In Statistics
The Statistical Exorcist: Dispelling Statistics Anxiety
Statistics

Intermediate

Elementary Statistics
Modern Elementary Statistics

Interpretation and Use

How To Lie With Statistics
How To Use (And Misuse) Statistics
Statistics For People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics
Use And Abuse Of Statistics

Audiovisual Materials

Against All Odds Inside Statistics [Videorecording]
Sampling and Estimation [Videorecording]
Statistics & Sports Performance [Videorecording]
Statistics At A Glance [Videorecording]
Statistical Applications--Basic [Videorecording]
Statistics, An Audio-Tutorial Approach [Sound Recording]

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Online Databases

To find journal and magazine articles, use the library's online databases.  These databases are research tools that cover thousands of printed publications. 

You can find statistics on almost any subject, therefore, you should be able to find articles with statistics in almost any of our databases depending on your subject.  So for example, if you want business statistics, look in our business databases.  If you want crime statistics, look in our criminal justice database.  We also have many databases that cover many different subjects so you might try some subject specific databases and the mulitple subject databases.  If you can find your topic in the CQ Researcher database, you should find a bunch of statistics.  Do a really broad search in this database.  For example, search for "autism" or "alcohol".  The database is small enough that you won't have too many results to look through, but it is well worth trying.

To construct your search, you should try typing the subject into the database and then add "and statistics".  For example, you could go to our criminal justice database and search for "murder and statistics".  You may also find some articles that have statistics by searching for your subject without adding the word "statistics".  For example, you might search for "chicago and murder".  In this case, you will need to look at each individual article to determine if there are statistics in them. 

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Web Sites

Web Resources for Statistical Info and Data

U.S. Government Sites

Statistical Abstract of the United States—is a yearly government publication and one of your best "first choice" resources.

FedStats and USA.Gov—Two great places for finding U.S. statistics and other U.S. Government info. 

Google UncleSam Search—A Google search engine which looks for matches only on U.S. federal, state, and local government-maintained Web sites.

Data Bank—Data from Census 2000, product overviews, and assistance in acquiring and using census information.
For information on using the 2000 Census, visit the "U.S. Census Bureau's Question and Answer Center." For information and a glossary on "changes related to the geographic entities for which Census 2000 provides data," visit Census 2000+Glossary.

The CIA World Factbook—The basic skinny on every nation on Earth is in the CIA World Factbook.

Other Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web—(Scroll down page to International Statistical Agencies)
List of links to federal and international statistical agencies, including the official statistics departments of around 60 countries. Maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Other Internet Resources

RobertNiles.com—A source for general stats information organized by category. As it claims, "Scroll down to the links below and your days of coming up empty while reporting are over. You'll soon be checking facts and downloading reputable data on everything from public safety to campaign contributions...you name it."

University of Michigan's The Document Center—The Documents Center is a central reference and referral point for government information, whether local, state, federal, foreign or international. Its Web pages are a reference and instructional tool for government, political science, statistical data, and news, particularly the Document Center's home page.

OFFSTATS—Compare a Southern Hemisphere source with a Northern one for accuracy! The Official Statistics on the Web is now located at the University of Aukland, New Zealand. OFFSTATS lists web sites offering free and easily accessible social, economic and general data from official or similar "quotable" sources, especially those that provide both current data and time series. In the country lists, these are mainly Web pages provided by statistical offices, central banks and government departments and agencies, whereas the topics list is comprised of links to the statistics pages of international organizations and associations and a few commercial sites.

POPULATION STATISTICS—Here you will find a historical, demographic and statistical overview of the population of all the countries in the world, their administrative divisions and their important cities.

Statistical Resources on the Web Foreign Government Data Sources—From the University of Michigan's the Documents Center, a compilation of Web links to statistical information on countries outside United States.

Web Tutorials and Self-learning for Statistics

Animated Statistics Demonstrations
Although these pages were written for behavioral statistics at Ohio University, they should be useful for anyone taking introductory statistics or in need of basic statistical information. View the animated demonstrations and practice your computational skills by trying the problems. Now you can complete the problems online with a new interactive format that allows you to check your work as you go.

Statistics Every Writer Should Know
Here are clear presentations of concepts such as mean, median, standard deviation, margin of error, etc. Of related interest, the Chance Project seeks to educate readers about the uses of probability and statistics in current news reporting. Chance offers lectures and videos (requiring RealPlayer 5.0), teaching aids, online texts and interesting articles demonstrating concepts. Still want more? Try the online course in Introductory Statistics.

Tutorials: Dix: Statistics
Statistics tutorials by Alan Dix, professor of Computing Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Includes an animated "coin toss race" for probability. A discussion of seven common statistical errors.

DAU Stat Refresher Module
This module is an interactive tutorial which gives a comprehensive view of probability and statistics. This interactive module covers basic probability, random variables, moments, distributions, data analysis including regression, moving averages, exponential smoothing, and clustering. A great feature of this tutorial is a click-on a-z index of terms.

Hyperstat Online
Introductory hypertext statistics textbook. Also has links to related online resources. Produced by a statistics professor at Rice University in Texas.

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