Milner Library - Finding Statistics - Understanding Statistics 1

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.