Getting the Whole Picture Using Numbers to Enhance Your Stories

Why Use Numbers? Provide evidence Can be used to complement your investigation Can provide a critical view of opposing arguments

Sources of Numbers (Data) Statistics Canada Universities’ Data Centres Libraries Other Government Departments Polling Companies …..

Kinds of Data Aggregate –already tabulated –eg. Everything we’ll look at today Microdata –raw numbers –need a statistical package –eg. surveys and polling data

3 Easy-to-Use Data Sources 1996 Census Community Profiles CANSIM Health Statistics at a Glance –all come from Statistics Canada –all available via the web –none require specialized knowledge

1996 Census Community Profiles (CEPS.statcan.ca/english/profil/PlaceSearchForm1.cfm) Provide basic data on Canadian communities Data are, for the most part, at the municipal level Covers only a part of the total Census questions Can use it to make maps (crude)

Community Information from Statistics Canada Using StatCan’s Community Profiles

Using CANSIM on the Web ( datacentre.chass.utoronto.ca/cansim/) Statistics Canada’s premier database Over 800,000 time series (trends) Housed at the University of Toronto Part of the Data Liberation Initiative Restricted to faculty, staff and students Academic use only

Using StatCan’s Time-Series Data Base to Look at Trends in Canadian Social and Economic Life

Health Statistics at a Glance ( More from the Data Liberation Initiative Gives basic statistics on births, deaths, etc. Uses the Beyond 20/20 Data Browser –can download it from the site Housed at the University of Ottawa Same restrictions as CANSIM