Library support for Researchers: Statistics

Wherever you look, data is everywhere! Data is quite simply plain facts about something. The data must be collected, interpreted and presented for it to have meaning. Data is the raw ingredients from which statistics are created.

Statistics are useful when you need to support an argument and can be a vital source of information for your studies.

Statistical analysis can be performed on data to show relationships among the variables collected. Through secondary data analysis, many different researchers can re-use the same data set for different purposes.

When evaluating statistical data, here are some questions to think about…

Author

Who is the author? Are they a reliable source?

Time Period
What is the date range of the data? Historical, current or a range of years? Remember that it takes some time to compile data.

Geography
What country, county, etc., might compile the data you want?

Sources

Are the statistics reliable/accurate? Are they from authoritative sources such as government or an international organisation? Can they be verified?

Availability

What data is likely to be available?

Coverage

Is the coverage complete?

Maps, both print and digital, can be a useful source of information across a range of different disciplines including agriculture, biological, earth and rural sciences.  Town and land maps can provide many levels of detail while historical maps can demonstrate development across the centuries.

• Digimap: a full & comprehensive Ordnance Survey map data and historic maps as well as geological data. You just need to have an Aberystwyth University email account to register to access Digimap.
  • Ordanance Survey
  • Historic 
  • Geology 
  • Environment 
  • Global
  • Society
  • Marine
• Global Change Master Directory
• JISC Geospatial Data Service: The Jisc geospatial data service, created by a partnership between Jisc and Airbus, offers easy access to a wide range of digital mapping products. The service allows you to easily and quickly discover, view, order, and download a variety of geospatial data products from a range of suppliers (licenced by Jisc) – all through one simple interface.
• National Library of Wales Map Collection
• National Library of Wales Maps Information Leaflet
• UK National Air Quality Archive

Welsh Government Statistics Access to topic areas for the Welsh Government statistics

Statswales  Freely available official data on Wales (general).

• StatsWales: Agriculture
• StatsWales: Environment and Countryside

Animal and Plant Health Agency Statistics on animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy.

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA):

• DEFRA publishes national and official statistics relating to the environment, rural communities, food, farming and biosecurity.

IBIS World A great resource for company and industry sector information and statistics

Neighbourhood Statistics Official UK government local statistics.  Reports available using postcode searches

Office for National Statistics Online Access to UK official statistics (2008 onwards)

Organic Farming Statistics Statistics about organic farming in the UK.

UK Data Service UK's Largest collection of UK and international social, economic and population data.

UK National Statistics Publication Hub   Gateway to UK National Statistics

Europa: Agriculture and Rural Development

• European agricultural statistics from the European Union web site

European Union - Open Data Portal  Access to European Union data.

Global Health Obervatory (GHO) Data  The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is the World Health Organisation's gateway to health-related statistics from around the world.

Guide to freely available international data resources Links to official national, regional and international statistical websites.

NationMaster  Compiles data from sources such as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization and the World Bank. You can search, compare any two countries by category, and browse by category and by country. 

Quandl Time-series datasets from 400 sources. Includes oil prices, exchange rates, unemployment and world stock markets.

United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN) Population figures and projections from the United Nations.

United Nations UN Data Explorer Free access to the world's major international statistics from the United Nations including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

United Nations Statistical Commission Statistics on the economy, environment, population, society and trade. 

UNWTO Tourism Statistics Up-to-date tourism statistics from around the world.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service

World Factbook Overview of all countries providing brief descriptions of many aspects including people, government, economy and transport.

Maths and Statistics Support 

The Maths and Statistics support service is run by the Department of Mathematics. 

This portal is designed to help new academics and students learn SPSS:

IBM SPSS Demos and Tutorials

Register with your University email but set a different password for helpful short video tutorials and guides on;

• Importing Excel files
• Running correlation coefficient
• Using Custom Tables
• Running Descriptive Statistics

and many more available from the portal above.

There are also SPSS books available to borrow from the library;