Research Guides: Psychological Sciences: Statistics

Statistics

Statistical data lends credibility to your research by providing facts and figures to support it. Including stats in your class assignments and research papers is always a good idea. But accurate and valid data isn't always easy to find since there is no single source for this type of info. Statistics can be found within scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, reports, websites, books, statistical databases, and more.

Evaluating Statistics

Inclusion of error-based data can harm the credibility of your research. So it is very important to evaluate the source of your statistical information. The following questions will help you to evaluate the reliability of statistical information.

Who is the author of the source that presents the statistics? What are the author's credentials? Is the author an authority on the subject? Could the author be presenting bias?
What is the date of the statistics? How current are they? Are they relevant to the time period that you are interested in?
Who is the intended audience?
What type of publication is the data published in? And is the data clearly represented?
Can the data be cross-checked in other reliable sources?
Can the statistics be verified? Do the methods used and data presented seem valid?

Resources

Often you may obtain statistics from journal, magazine or newspaper articles on your research topic. The Library’s Roadrunner Search is a good starting point since it searches approximately 95% of the Library’s databases in a single, simultaneous search. To access, go to the Library’s homepage and look for the box in the middle of the page titled Roadrunner Search. Click on the Advanced Search link to bring up more search options.

You may include the keywords (ratio OR statistics OR proportion OR percentage) as part of your search string, as shown below. Additional keywords to consider are prevalence, numbers, increase, decrease, data, trends, polling, figures, and tables.

Screenshot of Roadrunner Advanced Search.

Conducting a search in Google or another internet search engine is also a good starting point for finding statistics related to your research topic. Reliable sources of statistics may include government and technical reports, scholarly journal articles, conference papers, white papers, and professional organizations.

When retrieving statistics from the internet, it is even more pertinent to evaluate the source as reliable and appropriate for use in scholarly research. Refer to the Evaluating Statistics section above for specific questions you should ask regarding the statistical source. The Website Evaluation page provides additional factors to consider before including online sources in your research.

Similar to a database search, in Google you may include the keyword statistics as part of your search string, as shown below. Additional keywords to consider are ratio, proportion, percentage, prevalence, numbers, increase, decrease, data, trends, polling, figures, and tables.

Screenshot of Google search box with search terms "information literacy" statistics.

Government, agency and organizational websites are a great source of reliable statistical information.

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Provides information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates statistical information.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation are organized by transportation mode, region, or subject. Finding Transportation Statistics provides additional resources for statistics.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: FastStats
Provides quick access to statistics on topics of public health importance and is organized alphabetically.
ChildStats.gov
Provides statistics on children and families in the U.S. across a range of domains, including family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education and health.
Data.gov
Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
Data and Statistics about the United States
Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.
Department of Homeland Security: Data
Provides statistical information on citizenship, immigration, FEMA, and more.
FedStats
Easy access to statistics and information produced by more than 100 U.S. Federal Government agencies.
Global Health Observatory
World Health Organization's gateway to health-related statistics for more than 1000 indicators.
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
Provides statistics related to postsecondary education, including admissions, tuition rates, enrollment numbers, demographics of students, and more.
International Statistical Agencies
Directory of international statistical agencies provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
National Center for Charitable Statistics
National repository of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States; provides high quality data on nonprofit organizations and their activities.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Fulfills a Congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.
National Center for Health Statistics
Statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Data on key economic indicators such as GDP, inflation, unemployment, government debt and deficit.
Statistics on Child and Family Well-Being
Resources provide State and national statistics on child and family well-being indicators, such as health, child care, education, income, and marriage.
U.S. Census Bureau
Data on population & housing, economy, and demographics. Easy Stats gives you quick and easy access to selected statistics collected by the U.S. Census Bureau through the American Community Survey.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Provides information and data covering energy production, stocks, demand, imports, exports, and prices.
U.S. Statistical Abstract
Authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Primary source for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication for more than 200 countries and territories.
UNSD Statistical Databases
The United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.
World Bank Open Data
Provides free and open access to global development data.