Secondary sources
data and statistics
November 2009
Susan Mowers
Computer login:
user name: your uottawa email prefix, e.g., smowe021
password : yyddmmxx
Presentation (with links):
http://gsg.uottawa.ca/data/AAApresentation.ppt
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Outline
1) Secondary data in Research
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Why use secondary data?
Library at your service: secondary data and statistics
And when should I use secondary data or statistics…?
How reliable are the statistics / data?
2) Using StatCan DLI secondary sources
– Demographic/community statistics
– Criminal justice statistics
• Juristat and related sources
• CCJS statistical tables
– Secondary data from Odesi
• DLI and ICPSR data collections
• Five easy steps (GSS cycle 18) in Odesi
– Secondary data in SPSS
• From Odesi to SPSS
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Data
Why use secondary data?
Use data to test your research hypothesis: Does your hypothesis
hold up …or not? What do the following data say about your
hypothesis…
– DEMOGRAPHIC context :
• WHO ? Your populations and communities
• WHAT IS HAPPENING? social and historical trends
– Data on CRIME in society
• WHAT IS HAPPENING ? Crime indicators
– WHERE is it happening? Putting together geography, crime and
socio-economic indicators
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Welcome to Data Services
DATA @
The library
GSG
Geographic, Statistical and Government Info Centre
smowers@uottawa.ca
Morisset Library (third floor)
and data via …
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GSG data services
We help …
• find data, statistics and documentation
• with technical support on using data and statistics
• with computerized mapping (GIS) support
• provide statistical and GIS software in Morisset 308
• with tools and training on using data
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When to use secondary data?
• Secondary data? Use data from many hundreds or thousands
of observations for statistical analysis.
Statistics? Statistics are a presentation-ready form of data. Use
statistics for evidence to support descriptive statements about
crime in society
• What’s the difference between data and statistics?
• www.biblio.uottawa.ca : Search  Subject  Data and
Statistics
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Why are secondary data important?
“Data are unlike other tools of the research endeavour.
They provide the raw material from which
information and knowledge can be created. By their
nature, data allow for exploration of topics of interest
to the researcher. Unlike printed [or statistical] tables
which, like a postcard, provide a picture of one view
of a larger phenomenon, data can act as a camera,
allowing the researcher to manipulate the
background, change the foreground and more fully
investigate the object under study.”
Watkins, Wendy, and Ernie Boyko, "Data Liberation and Academic Freedom" Government Information in
Canada/Information gouvernementale au Canada 3, no. 2 (1996). [http://www.usask.ca/library/gic/v3n2/watkins2/watkins2.html]
Research Data Management Seminar, November 10, 2009
9
Statistics can be presented in many
ways, as…
and …
a table of numbers,
a few numbers in an article or Web site, ,
a graph, *
*see Graph types
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Are there any statistics on your Topic?
• Check official sources – they publish a lot of statistics!
• Note, the United Nations is not a recognized source for crime
statistics … instead go to the country’s national statistical
agency,
• In Canada, who is our national statistical agency….
• The Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) provides extensive data and
statistics from the many hundreds of surveys carried out by our
national statistical agency
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Criteria for evaluating Statistical Sources
•
Who is collecting the data?
– What is their reputation for accuracy and objectivity ?
• Can you review their data and methodology? Does
the provider make this information available?
• Who is the sponsor of the data collection?
– What is their agenda?
• E.g., a political party, Elections Canada, or a car manufacturer all have
specific agendas affecting “the message” and “the data”
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Where to go for Data?
CHECK OUT THESE TWO PUBLIC SOURCES FOR HOMICIDE
STATISTICS…
1) http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=72
2) http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/081023/d081023a.htm
Who collected the data?
How was the data collected (methodology…)?
Who sponsored the collection &/or publication?
What was the sponsor’s mandate?
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Good luck with the fine print…!
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*All information in this table dated before 1993 comes from the
U.N. Demographic Yearbooks for 1993 and 1992. All information
dated 1993 and thereafter comes from a draft study prepared for
the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice`s
Vienna Session 28 April-9 May, 1997, except: a) the U.S.
homicide figure comes from FBI preliminary data for 1996, and b)
the Swiss homicide and suicide rates come from the Swiss
national police.
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Using statistics for the first time…?
1) Writing with Statistics by Reuben Ternes.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/672/01/
Summary: This handout explains how to write with statistics including quick
tips, writing descriptive statistics, writing inferential statistics, and using visuals
with statistics.
“In the casual sense, a statistic is any number that describes a group of
objects.”
2) Introduction to the practice of statistics / David S. Moore, George P. McCabe
and Bruce Craig.
MRT Reserve - MRT circulation desk QA 276.12 .M65 2009
3)
http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/toc/contents.htm
Assistance for getting the most from statistics.
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Where to find statistics?
– Know the
official agency site
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ARE THERE STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC?
(A) impact of violent crime,
(B) child abuse and its impact
… via two basic sources from Statistics Canada…
Juristat
Annual statistical reports on crime, homicide,
impaired driving, justice system AND
additional special topics of interest.
The Daily
News stories on Canada's latest socioeconomic
and health trends, including backfiles to 1995
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Survey for numbers on…
TOPIC A : Impact of violent crime on victims ?
SOURCE: Juristat:
Browse publications on
Crime and justice
and from list of “pubns”, Looking for Statistics
select …
• Juristat FOR
TOPIC ABOVE* (hint,
“2007”)
FIND ANSWERS …
-- What is the source? What is the youngest
age covered?
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- How current is this information? How
long did it take from year of data collection to
Publication of this article?
Survey for numbers on…
TOPIC B : Child abuse and neglect and its impact
SOURCE: The Daily:
1) Go to The Daily,
2) Type child abuse then click
the Search The Daily button,
3) Select “The Daily, Thursday, June
28, 2001. Family violence: focus on
child abuse and children at risk”
Looking for statistics
ROW 3 --
Would you say there are statistics
on the impact of child abuse based on this
article in The Daily?
ROW 4 – At bottom of article, Click on
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the cited “Family violence in Canada: A statistical
profile 2001 (85-224-XIE”. Would you say there
are statistics on the impact of child abuse based on this
TOPIC A) What is the source for these
statistical findings? (or what is the “GSS”?)
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TOPIC B) Sight and zero in takes a couple of
steps…
And click on… at end of article
This 2001 profile has extensive statistics on child abuse and
neglect
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Crime and Justice sources
From Surveys (“samples” of population)
General Social Survey, Victimization
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth
Ethnic Diversity Survey
Aboriginal Peoples Survey
International Youth Survey (in Canada, Toronto)
http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/spider/dli.cgi
DLI Contact: Smowers@uottawa.ca
From Administrative data (“all” population)
(Uniform Crime Report, Homicide Survey, Vital statistics…)
Background socio-economic information
Census of Population (“all” population)
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WHERE TO Look
(we have used …)
• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
(CCJS)
• The Daily (popular media audience)
• Regular publications e.g., Juristat
• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and
(2) Justice tables (more advanced)
• Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research
Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic
•
Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)
•
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international
•
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
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WHERE TO LOOK
(Note also…)
• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
(CCJS)
• The Daily (popular media audience)
• Regular publications e.g., Juristat
• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and
(2) Justice tables (more advanced)
• Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research
Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic
•
Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)
•
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international
•
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
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1) YOU NEED A FEW STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC
http://cansim2.statcan.ca/cgiwin/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&CORCmd=GetTList&ResultTemplate=Srch1
Or from
http://www.statcan.ca
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Here are a several subjects covered by
Statistics Canada directly related to crime
and justice …
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Exercises
• Make sure Internet Explorer is your browser, not Mozilla Firefox
– DEMOGRAPHIC context :
• WHO ? Your populations and communities
• WHAT IS HAPPENING? social and historical trends
– We will use: COMMUNITY PROFILES 2006 and copy and
paste into Excel…
– Data on CRIME in society
• WHAT IS HAPPENING ? Crime indicators
– We will use CCJS detailled offenses by Census
Metropolitan Areas and and copy and paste into Excel…
– WHERE is it happening? Putting together geography, crime and
socio-economic indicators … GSS cycle 18 2004, Victimization
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Web resources on Data and Statistics
Statistics from Census Metropolitan Areas : median income, crime,
average age…
• www.biblio.uottawa.ca
• Go to: Population and demographic statistics on Library site
Community Profiles
• CCJS Criminal Justice Tables
http://gsg.uottawa.ca/data/cma.ivt
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Data Research and Access 5 Easy Steps