1. Searching for Statistics Why can’t we find the data we need? Where should we even start? Julie.Marcoux@umoncton.ca 858-4154

2. So Many Obstacles!  Some very common challenges:  Varied producers of data Varied producers of data  Data versus statistics Data versus statistics  Formats Formats  Geography Geography  Does it even exist? Does it even exist?  Confidentiality Confidentiality  Even more common challenges:  Costs Costs  Varied sources of data Varied sources of data  Historical Data and Longitudinal Data Historical Data and Longitudinal Data  Statistics Canada’s amazing maze Statistics Canada’s amazing maze Bonus Workflow!!!

4. WHO? WHO? WHO? -Governments: municipal, provincial, national. -Associations and non-profit organizations: local, national, international. -Researchers: published statistics, un-published datasets. -For profit organizations: think-tanks, analysts, businesses. -Compilers: database providers, almanachs. CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

5. Mismatch between users and data or statistics. Potential mismatch Beginners Experts Statistics Data CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

6. DATA FORMATS  Many kinds of formats:  Software: SPSS, Stata, Excel, etc.  File extensions: CSV, XML, TAB, SPS, DAT, XLSX  Geospatial data. CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

7. Geography Compare similar levels of geography for counts, but you can get away with percentages to compare different levels of geography. Statistic Canada’s geographical hierarchy is used by a LOT of Canadian sources. A same city might be available at many different geographical levels.

9. Hierarchy of standard geographic units for dissemination, 2011 Census

10. Some geography resources  Clicking on provinces in the census profile. census profile  Clicking around the Standard Geographical Classification. Standard Geographical Classification  GeoSuite GeoSuite  The census geography webpage. census geography webpage

11. Some geography resources  Clicking on provinces in the census profile. census profile  Clicking around the Standard Geographical Classification. Standard Geographical Classification  GeoSuite GeoSuite  The census geography webpage. census geography webpage CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

12. Weekly amount of ice cream purchased for children aged 12 to 14 in Nunavut? CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

13. Redacted statistics???

14. Data is suppressed in smaller geographies CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

16. Alphabet Soup: Which Resource for Accessing DLI Data? Beyond 20/20 Web Server? Cansim Multidimensional? Census Analyzer? Chass? DLI FTP server? DLI restricted web site? Equinox? ICPSR? IVT Crepuq? Nesstar? ? SDA? RDC? Peter Webster spells it out! CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

21.  Some aspects that might have changed over time:  Geographic boundaries.  Confidentiality restrictions.  Data collection (questions asked, answers collected, etc.)  Older surveys might be only available in print, be improperly documented, be hard to find/discover/search, or have coding issues.  Statistic Canada’s longitudinal surveys are typically only available through the RDCs : harder to access.  Longitudinal surveys typically lose a portion of respondents over time. Historical Data Longitudinal Data Longitudinal survey? A same respondent is followed for a period of time. CLICK TO GO BACK TO MENU!!!

23. SUGGESTED WORKFLOW Quickly check sources that are already familiar to you. Become familiar with the Canadian census, the National Household Survey, and a few Stat Can surveys in your discipline.Canadian censusNational Household SurveyStat Can surveys in your discipline Become familiar with your local data portal and quickly check relevant links. If possible, do a variable search in your data discovery tool.local data portal Search for your question in Google and explore the results. When searching for Canadian data, use Google results to navigate to relevant branches of government, to the relevant Departments and/or to the relevant Stat Can surveys. If searching for Canadian data, look at tables and sources of information in Stat Can’s subject portal.Stat Can’s subject portal Ask your data librarian for help…if you are the data librarian, ask the DLI email list for help.

25. QUESTIONS???