Finding Statistics

1
Finding Statistics Government Information

• ABS 700 - Fall 2002
• November 18, 2002

2
Government Information
3
WSU Government Pages

• Many of the government resources are Internet
  sites and are available to you anywhere
• Main Government page
• U.S. by Subject
• Ohio Selected Resources
• State Search
• Frequently Requested Titles

4
Patents Trademarks

• WSU is a patent and trademark depository library
• Patents Trademarks information pages
• U.S. Patent Trademark Office
• USPTO Trademarks

5
Databases for Government Information

• LexisNexis Congressional
• Ohio Capitol Connection
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
• PAIS
• World News Connection
• LexisNexis Academic
• A Matter of Fact
• CIAO

6
Finding Federal Information

• United States Code uscode.house.gov/usc.htm
• Cornells version from LII www4.law.cornell.edu/u
  scode/
• Code of Federal Regulations www.access.gpo.gov/na
  ra/cfr/
• Cornells version from LII cfr.law.cornell.edu/cf
  r/
• U.S. Supreme Court www.supremecourtus.gov/
• Cornells searchable Supreme Court cases -
  supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

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Finding Federal Information

• Federal Resources
• FedLaw www.thecre.com/fedlaw/default.htm
• MetaIndex for U.S. Research gsulaw.gsu.edu/metain
  dex/
• LIIs Federal Law www.law.cornell.edu/federal/
• U.S. Courts - www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html

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General Government Information

• University of Michigan Documents Center
  www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/index.html
• The Federal Web Locator www.infoctr.edu/fwl/
• FirstGov - www.firstgov.gov/
• GPO Access - www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/
• Thomas Legislative Information - thomas.loc.gov/
• U.S. Government Sites by Topic -
  library.ucok.edu/gov

9
Finding Ohio Information

• Ohio Statutory and Case Law guide.lp.findlaw.com/
  11stategov/oh/laws.html
• Codes, Laws, Constitution www.state.oh.us/ohio/
  ohiolaws.htm
• State Government www.state.oh.us/
• Supreme Court of Ohio www.sconet.state.oh.us/
• Ohio Legislative Service Commission
  www.lsc.state.oh.us/
• Ohio General Assembly www.legislature.state.oh.us
  /

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Finding Information for Other States

• Legal Ethics Material by Jurisdiction
  www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/listing.html
• FindLaws State Resources www.findlaw.com/11state
  gov/
• Municipal Codes Online www.spl.org/selectedsites/
  municode.html
• Law Research by State www.lawresearch.com/v2/stat
  e/cstate7.htm
• Villanova State Court Locator vls.law.vill.edu/Lo
  cator/statecourt/

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Finding Local Information

• Greene County CourtView - 198.30.12.229/pa/pa.htm
• Montgomery County Clerk of Courts -
  www.clerk.co.montgomery.oh.us/
• City of Columbus - ci.columbus.oh.us/
• City of Dayton ci.dayton.oh.us/
• City of Cincinnati www.rcc.org/
• State and Local Governments on the Net
  www.statelocalgov.net/

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Finding International Information

• World Factbook 2002 www.odci.gov/cia/publications
  /factbook/index.html
• United Nations www.un.org/english/
• United Nations InfoNation www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSc
  hoolBus/infonation/e_i_map.htm
• Global Courts Links to Supreme Court Decisions
  www.globalcourts.com/decisions.htm
• International Governmental Organizations
  http//www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resourc
  e/internat/igo.html
• Legal Research on International Law Issues
  www.lib.uchicago.edu/llou/forintlaw.html

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Statistical Information
14
Types of Statistics

• There are different formats you can find when
  searching for statistics
• Aggregated
• Raw

15
Aggregated Statistics

• You have a table or tables of statistics that
  someone else has put together. These are
  sometimes referred to as aggregated statistics or
  aggregated data.
• The pieces of information in these instances have
  been added together or aggregated.

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Aggregated Statistics

• Figure 8. Estimated number of arrests for
  forcible rape
• and other sex offenses, 1980-95
  
• Forcible Other Sex
  Total
• Year rape offenses U.S.
  population
• 1989 39,110 104,800
  247,341,697
• 1990 39,160 107,600
  249,912,527
• 1991 40,120 108,000
  252,649,535
• 1992 39,100 108,400
  255,418,704
• 1993 38,420 104,100
  250,137,251
• 1994 36,610 100,700
  260,659,690
• 1995 34,650 94,500
  263,033,968
• Source FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1995

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Raw Data or Microdata

• You take raw data and make the tables of
  statistics yourself. This can also be referred
  to as microdata--its just at the micro
  level--individual pieces of data.
• Another term thats often used is data sets.
  These are sets of raw data. ICPSR is one of the
  biggest sources for data sets.

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Raw Data

• alnm 1 11 1 18
• alnm 2 11 1 18
• alnm 3 11 1 18
• alnm 4 1212118
• alnm 5 11 1 18
• alnm 6 11 1 18
• alnm 7 11 1 18
• alnm 8 11 1 18
• alnm 9 11 1 18
• alnm 10 11 1 18
• alnm 11 11 1 18

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Usefulness

• Both types of statistics are useful. It just
  depends on what your purpose is and what you
  need.
• Aggregated data provides you with numbers you can
  immediately use--the statistics are already
  compiled
• Raw data you must compile and categorize to draw
  out the information

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Why use raw data?

• You want to use categories or show relationships
  between categories that no one else has done
  before.
• You want to use the data in a new way for your
  own research purposes

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Where can you get raw data?

• Gather data yourself by writing a survey (there
  are books to help you do that).
• Gather data from some source, like individual
  records at some agency.
• Use raw data that has already been collected.
  Someone did a survey and brought the individual
  pieces together, but its not added up into
  tables by categories.

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Where to look at WSU online . . .
Sources for statistics are found under Reference
Instruction on the Libraries web site
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Library Sources

• Databases
• A Matter of Fact
• LexisNexis Statistical
• Statistics subject guide is broken down into
  categories including Criminal Justice

24
Statistical Universe

• Citations and abstracts for federal statistical
  publications dating back to 1973. Starting in the
  mid-1990s, CIS provides full text for about 15
  of the publications and includes links to
  government Web sites for about
  another 60

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Statistical Universe

• Power Tables allow you to retrieve statistical
  tables quickly and link to abstracts of the
  publications from which the tables are derived.
  You are able to search the tables by keyword and
  narrow by geographic, demographic, economic, or
  frequency of data breakdowns.
• Abstracts searches the CIS American Statistics
  Index, Statistical Reference Index, and Index to
  International Statistics. The index record
  provides title, bibliographic, and subject
  information as well as an abstract to the
  contents of each statistical publication.
  Frequently, there is a detailed list of tables
  and charts.

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Statistical Universe - Search Example

• 1) Example child abuse
• - Search in Power Tables
• - Geographic breakdown by U.S. State
• 2) Search in Abstracts
• - Keyword terrorism
• - Limit to statistics published by
• Federal Government
• - Geographic breakdown
• By foreign countries

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A Matter of Fact

• Contains textual statistical excerpts on current
  social, economic, political, health, and
  environmental public policy issues. A Matter of
  Fact represents approximately 1,000 mainstream
  sources and alternative voices providing access
  to a diverse and broad range of subjects and
  perspectives.
• These sources include the U.S. Congressional
  Record and congressional hearings, as well as a
  large variety of newspapers, magazines,
  newsletters, web sites, and other resources from
  around the world.

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A Matter of Fact

• This database uses the same Dataware software as
  the other OhioLINK Research Databases.
• There may be full-text links in your results
• If it is a government publication, WSU often has
  it even if it isnt listed in the catalog--always
  double-check at the Information Desk!

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A Matter of Fact - Examples

• Search on a topic you are interested in
• Example domestic violence
• Results may include government documents such as
  the Congressional Record, journal articles, or
  websites

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Statistical Data on the Web

• FedStats www.fedstats.gov/
• AmeriStat www.ameristat.org/
• Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center
  fjsrc.urban.org
• FRED Federal Reserve Economic Data
  research.stlouisfed.org/fred/
• Freelunch.com Economic and Financial Data
  www.economy.com/freelunch/
• Bureau of Labor Statistics stats.bls.gov/

31
Statistical Data on the Web

• U.S. Census Bureau State County Quick Facts
  quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
• University of Michigans Document Center
  Statistical Resources on the Web
  www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
• Uncle Sam Statistical Resources of the U.S.
  www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/statis1.htm

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Statistical Data on the Web

• U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
• FBI - Uniform Crime Reports
• Uniform Crime Reports County Data
• Juvenile Justice Facts Figures
• Justice Information Center (many links under
  Criminal Justice Statistics)

33
Regional Studies Information

• There are many research guides created by Karen
  Kimber on regional studies topics
• International/Regional Studies Subject Guide
• Background Notes
• CIA World Factbook
• U.S. Department of State International Issues
• U.S. Census Bureau International Database
• Library of Congress Country Studies
• International Information (Indiana Univ.)

34
U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics

• www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
• The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a
  component of the Office of Justice Programs in
  the U.S. Department of Justice, is the United
  States' primary source for criminal justice
  statistics.
• BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and
  disseminates information on crime, criminal
  offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of
  justice systems at all levels of government.

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Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics

• www.albany.edu/sourcebook
• Also available in Dunbar Ref HV7245 .N37
• Online is more current than what we have in print
• Three ways to search
• Index
• Table and Figure List (words in title)
• Search within pdf files using find (Adobe Acrobat)

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ICPSR

• www.libraries.wright.edu/libnet/subj/icpsr/icpsrin
  t.html
• Inter-university Consortium for Political and
  Social Research (ICPSR).
• World's largest archive of computerized social
  science data.
• This is raw data in the form of data sets. These
  are then used with SPSS or SAS.
• You have direct access to these files from a WSU
  IP address.

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ICPSR

• CaTS help with Statistical Analysis SAS or
  SPSS
• Mike Rayle (x4026)
• Mike Kepler (x4030)
• They are both CaTS statistical programmers and
  will help you set up the data sets for use with
  SPSS or SAS.

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ICPSR

• World Values Survey (2790)
• SDA Online Data Analysis System
• ICPSR

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Parts of an ICPSR Data Set

• Codebooks Documentation
• Data Files
• Data Definitions Statements File
• Information available compressed or uncompressed

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Statistical/Government Reference Sources

• Criminal justice statistics a practical
  approach (HA35 .C68 1997)
• Criminal justice research sources (REF HV7419
  .T48 2000)
• Finding statistics online how to locate the
  elusive numbers you need (REF HA33.5 .B47 1998)
• International information documents,
  publications, and electronic information of
  international governmental organizations (REF
   JZ4850 .I58 1997)
• Statistical abstract (Info Desk HA202 .S85)

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Statistical/Government Reference Sources

• Statistical methods for criminology and criminal
  justice (HV6208 .B33 1997)
• Statistics for the social sciences (Reserve and
  3rd Floor HA29 .S5763 1999)
• Using government information sources electronic
  and print (on order)