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Explaining statistics |
Who produces statistics?
Official generation and dissemination: most sources of
original statistical data are governmental or official. Coverage can
be national, regional or international. Statistics from developed
countries are quite extensive and cover a wide range of economic,
social and cultural activities (see for example
www.cso.ie). There is also
a growing trend towards coordination of classification and
data collection, especially among EU member states at the national level
Private dissemination: many non-governmental operations (educational
departments, research units, publishers, consultants, etc.) collate
and disseminate official material. Many education units archive
data, simplify access to pre-existing sources or collate data on a
specific topic from various jurisdictions.
Commercial operators aim to repackage official data, possibly with
added value, and market it on an online or print subscription basis
Private generation: some specific services and industries generate their
own sectoral datasets and disseminate them through subscriber-only
databases, or through free or fee-based websites - see for example
finance (Datastream),
marketing
and media
Online or print?
Statistics are increasingly provided through organisational web
sites and online databases. There are still some excellent print
sources such as yearbooks which conveniently summarise national
statistical outputs. The most valuable sources available through DCU
Library are accessible through the links below |
