Finding Statistics - Home

Welcome to the Finding Statistics: Tutorial and Worksheet online tutorial! This tutorial was designed to be used in Quantitative Reasoning courses in the Middle Core of the General Education Program at Illinois State University; however, anyone is welcome to learn from the materials presented within. The Finding Statistics Tutorial and Worksheet is designed to help you in locating statistics in print and online sources. The tutorial is divided into three sections. Understanding Statistics General definitions and terminology for statistics What types of statistics are available What agencies compile statistics How to think about statistics in a way that will make locating them easier Evaluating Statistics How to evaluate the authenticity and reliability of statistical information How to determine the relevance of a statistic to your need Locating Statistics How to locate and retrieve raw statistical data and processed, or compiled, statistics How to evaluate statistical information for authenticity and relevance to your need What statistical databases are available Basic search strategies for locating statistics in online databases It is best if you complete the tutorial in this order, as information in the later sections builds off of knowledge you will have gained from completion of the earlier sections. It is possible, however, to also focus on a particular section of interest. There is a link to all of the sections of the tutorial on the first page. Once you have started the tutorial, there will be buttons to move you forward and backward through pages of the tutorial, and to link to the home page of the tutorial. Each section contains self-quizzes as checkpoints of your understanding. If you are completing this tutorial as a class assignment, you must print out the worksheet and submit it to your professor (you may also choose to print a copy for yourself). The worksheet can be accessed form the worksheet link on the tutorial homepage.