You can find statistics almost anywhere: in newspaper articles and books, on websites, in library databases, and more. Here are some useful places to look for statistical sources. Depending on your topic, some of these strategies may be more useful than others.
1. Take a look at Statista. This library database provides statistics for these topics: industries; consumer goods; internet; media & advertising; retail & trade; sports & recreation; technology & telecommunications; transportation & logistics; and travel, tourism & hospitality. It also contains some government statistics, such as births and deaths. (To open the database, you will need to sign in with your student ID and MySJSU password.)
2. Take a look at the Finding Data and Statistics research guide. This research guide goes over how to cite data and statistics in papers, and lists various data and statistics resources organized by topic. To see the resources available for your research topic, click the Find Data & Statistics by Topic menu heading, and select the topic area that most closely relates to your research topic from the drop down menu.
3. Take a look at the research guides most related to your topic . Most of the library's Research Guides offer links to useful statistical and data sources in that subject area. Look for a Statistics or Data heading in the research guide. Since a huge number of statistical resources come from the U.S. Government, be sure to take a look at the Government Information guide.
4. Look for specific groups that might do research on your topic. Think about who would be interested in your topic. What government agencies? What advocacy groups or associations? What think tanks or institutes? What companies? Then look at the websites and/or search for reports from these groups on your topic.
5. Search the web. There are a lot of great statistical sources freely available on the web. Doing a search for the kind of evidence you're looking for with the word statistics (or data) next to it may provide some helpful results. Always watch out for the sponsored results and advertisements that can look like regular search results (like the Terrapass one below). When finding things online, always evaluate the source the information is coming from. Is it a reliable, trustworthy, and/or unbiased source?
5. Use OneSearch. OneSearch contains books and government information containing useful statistical information. Using OneSearch's Advanced Search option, search for your topic under Keyword and statistics under Subject. If you're looking for recent information, make sure you limit the date range to the past 2 or 5 years.
