Finding Statistics - Understanding Statistics

Understanding the types of statistical information that is available is vital to the process of locating statistics. There are statistics available on an enormous variety of topics.  Some examples are: batting averages for major league baseball players, the rate of teen pregnancy in Chicago, the average income of a resident of Illinois. Statistics are gathered because someone has determined there is a need or a use for the information. Statistics are most often collected for internal use within a particular agency and/or for external dissemination, making them available for use by the public.  With the growth of information available on the Internet, available sources of statistics grow almost daily.