UNST High School Senior Inquiry: Statistics

Why Use Statistics?

Statistics are a great way to provide concrete evidence of a trend, or make a theoretical argument tangible. If you are looking for a quick number, you will want a statistic. Statistics provide an interpretation and summary of collected data. Statistics can come from many different places, such as the government and non-profit organizations.

Finding Statistics

How Statistics Can Be Misleading

Find Statistics from the Library and the Web

PSU Library Databases for Statistics

Proquest Statistical Abstract of the United States
Maintains the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States.
Statista
Provides statistics from over 18,000 free and proprietary sources on a wide range of topics such as business, media, and demographics.
Social Explorer
Social Explorer is an online research tool designed to access current and historical U.S. Census data and demographic information. It contains maps, profile reports, data elements, and variables.
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
Archives social science data that includes aging, child care, criminal justice, demography, education, political science as well as public and mental health.
Sage Data
Contains national, state-level, and local level historical data for the areas of agriculture, crime and law enforcement, defense, economy, education, employment and labor, energy and environment, geography, government finances, health, households and housing, political science, population, social welfare as well as transportation. Replaces Sage Stats.

Recommended Websites for Statistics

American FactFinder
Find popular facts (population, income, etc.) and frequently requested data about your community.
UN Stats
Compiles and disseminates global statistical information from the United Nations
Eurostat
Statistical information provided to the institutions of the European Union.