Research Guides: Business & Economics Statistics: Home

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Key Databases

The following are databases recommended for finding data and statistics in the areas of Business and Economics

Odesi This link opens in a new window
Odesi contains over 3,535 datasets for the social sciences, with more than 13,000 additional dataset descriptions available for searching. Use Odesi to directly access DLI microdata from Statistics Canada
Statista This link opens in a new window
Access to industry reports, infographics, and consumer research in many different sectors.
Statistics Canada Data This link opens in a new window
CANSIM is Statistics Canada's key socioeconomic database. Updated daily, CANSIM provides fast and easy access to a large range of the latest statistics available in Canada. Provides access to the Canadian Censuses, the Agricultural Censuses, Aboriginal Peoples Survey, environmental data, Elections Canada data, and the time series in CANSIM (Canadian Socio-economic Information Management System).

Statistics and their uses

Statistics are used to:

provide a description
- answering the question about the scale or scope of something observable and its characteristics
make a comparison
- establishing the degree of similarity or dissimilarity among observables
identify a relationship
- looking at the correlation among characteristics of observables; how things are related

Assessing Statistics

Attributes that you should be looking for when evaluating your statistics:

Relevence
- How does the statistic reflect the needs of its clients and user
Accuracy
- Does the statistic accurately define the phenomenon that it was trying to measure?
Timeliness
- How long is the delay between the data gathering phase and the publishing phase?
Accessibility
- How findable is the statistic? Is it behind a pay wall?
Interpretability
- How much available documentation comes with the statistic? Definition? Data gathering methodology?
Coherence
- Does the statistic successfully verify similiar surveys?

Finding Statistics

Finding statistics is not easy. There are generally two approaches, which are often used in combination with each other.

Publisher Strategy: identify an organization that would produce and publish such a statistic. Knowledge of government structure, areas of jurisdication and context is key.

Data Strategy: identify a data source from which the statistics were derived.

image credit: Chuck Humphrey, Data Library Coordinator, University of Alberta

Official Statistics: produced by government bodies (such as Statistics Canada) and some international or inter-governmental agencies (such as the U.N.)

Non-Offical Statistics: produced by other bodies, including trade associations, professional organizations, banks, consultants, marketing companies, academic institutions, etc

Types of Statistics

Statistical Types
Surveys	Administrative Records
Census Labour Force Survey General Social Survey National Household Survey Aboriginal Peoples Survey etc....	Vital Statistics Hospital Morbidity Crime Reports Court Reports Income Statistics etc...

Surveys: deliberately requested information.

Administrative Records: statistics generated by doing regular business