Tag: database

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Canadian Statistics: How to find them

Ever needed trustworthy statistics to back up your research?  Not surprisingly, Statistics Canada is your “go-to” source for Canadian stats, but you may not be sure where to find what you need.  The major issue for most people is deciding which of the two main databases that UBC Library subscribes to will have the information that is needed.

First, let’s look at the Census of Canada.   It aims to count the nation’s population and collects  some basic information about the inhabitants of each dwelling, such as their relationships to one another, mother tongue, marital status, gender and age. One in five households get a longer form which covers additional topics including income & earnings; immigration status; ethnic origins; and educational attainment.

Key things to know about Census data:

  • The sample is large – either 100% or 20% – so the accuracy of your data is high.
  • The data in the Census is based solely on the questions asked – if the data you need cannot be sourced from the questions on the Census, then this is not the right place to look.
  • The questions on the Census can change over time or be eliminated.  Consult the Census Dictionary for the relevant Census year to see how long the questions have been asked and whether they have changed over time.
  • Click here to see the questions asked on the 2006 Census.
  • Click here to access topic-based data from the 2006 Census

The other major database from Statistics Canada that we subscribe to is called CANSIM – the Canadian Socioeconomic Information Management Database.  It disseminates the statistics gathered by StatsCan which come from all the other surveys conducted by the agency.  You can find some links to some Census data within Cansim, but as a general rule this is where you want to go for topics not covered on the Census.

Key things to know about Cansim:

  • typically, the sample is smaller than what you’ll get from the Census
  • Cansim is available from two different providers: StatsCan itself, via its user-friendly E-Stat database or through the University of Toronto via CHASS.  E-Stat is updated once a year in July, while CHASS is updated weekly.
  • CANSIM topics include Economic Accounts, Crime & Justice, Labour, Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Agriculture, Finance, Demographics, Health, Transportation, and Education & Training. Selected data on population estimates and vital statistics are also available.
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Online Resource (Free)

Food and Product Recall Database

After discovering this morning that a brand of potato-leek soup might have undeclared clams in it….this seemed like an appropriate database to highlight.   The Healthy Canadians website has played host to a database of recalled food and consumer products since 2007.  You can search by product or by food and the site also provides links to lists of recalled foods and products by month,  and articles on various food/product safety topics.

A related site you may be interested to look at is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.   This provides you with a great deal of  information related to food & food chain safety in Canada.  Also links to the various authorities in each region that are responsible for handling restaurant complaints and  inspections.

  • For Vancouver, this is the Coastal Health Authority.  The Health Authority has a very handy database that will allow you to search for and view restaurant inspections for food establishments in Vancouver,  North Vancouver, West Vancouver,  “Bellas,” Richmond and Bowen Island.  Just may be more information than you wanted to know!
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Online Resource (Free)

American Community Survey- Latest Release

The US Census Bureau conducts an official census every 10 years, with the next one coming up in March 2010.  In between years the Bureau conducts a variety of smaller-scale nationwide surveys, including the American Community Survey (ACS).  The ACS is sent to approximately 3 million households.  The most recent 3 year estimates based on surveys conducted from 2005 – 2008 have just been released for public use.

“The ACS collects information such as age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data…. These 3-year estimates are available annually for geographic areas with a population of 20,000 or more, including the nation, all states and the District of Columbia, all congressional districts, approximately 1,800 counties, and 900 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, among others.”

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New apps for US Government data

Sunlight Labs – “a non-profit, non partisan Washington, DC based organization focused on digitization of government data” has been running a contest to identify the top three websites offering applications that provide “easy access and understanding for the public” to US government data/information.  They all make it just a bit easier to access high quality data online.

The winners are:

First Prize: DataMasher.  This website allows you to select from a wide variety of data sets (mostly from Data.gov) and to then combine them into a personalized “mashup.”  Mashups take the form of tables and maps.   Examples of recent mashups are Health Care Coverage + Premiums; Unemployment + State Land Area; and Median Household Income + Median Monthly Mortgage Costs.

Second Prize:  GovPulse.  As mentioned in another blog entry below…this site provides a single search interface for all issues of the US Federal Register, from 1994 to present.

Third Prize: ThisWeKnow: This site provides access to “nationwide data sets from six different agencies in the data.gov catalog.”  In practice, users browse or search for specific American communities and then view a list of fast facts about those communities.  ThisWeKnow then provides links to the underlying data for each fast fact.

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Research Database on the US Voting System

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization with a special focus on “science, engineering and innovation.”  It also publishes the journal Science.  AAAS has just launched a new database which has the lofty goal of providing fundamental information about “the accuracy, reliability and security of voting technologies, election administration” and more.

The database, formally known as the Research Database on the US Voting System and Voting Technology, “provides access to empirical and analytical research about voting and elections to inform evidence-based reforms.  The database includes bibliographic information, abstracts and links to research covering a broad set of issues such as accessibility, ballot design, public confidence, voter demographics, voting technology, and voter registration.”

At present the database has approximately 500 entries – mostly published after 2000 –  but is anticipated to swell greatly over time.

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Online Resource (Free)

IMF Financial Soundness Indicators

The International Monetary Fund recently launched a database of “financial sector soundness” indicators, or FSIs, for member countries who choose to participate. The aim is to provide users with a means of judging the soundness of financial institutions as well as national economies.

The IMF’s list of core FSIs focuses on areas such as debt – both household and national; liquidity of assets; loans; assets; equity and real estate prices.

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Subscription Database

World Bank e-Library Trial

UBC has a trial to the World Bank e-Library and a few other of their databases until the end of August.

You can access the trial page here

World Bank e-Library: An electronic portal to the World Bank’s full-text collection of books, journals, working papers and other documents on social and economic development. It is the most comprehensive collection in the area and brings together a fully indexed and cross-searchable database of thousands of World Bank publications.

Africa Development Indicators Online: Provides the most comprehensive collection of data on the African economy. It contains data for over 1,400 indicators and time series from 1965 for 53 coutnries. Data include social, economic, financial, natural resources, infrastructure, governance, partnership, and enviornmental indicators.

Global Development Finance: The World’s Bank annual assessment of global financial conditions facing emerging markets. Offers external debt and financial flow data for 129 countries that report public and publicly guaranteed debt to the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System. Time series includes over 200 indicators from 1970-2017.

Global Economic Monitor (GEM): Features up-to-date analysis of global economic conditions, including a daily brief and event-driven focus reports.

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Online Resource (Free)

International Demography stats from US Census Bureau

It’s always exciting to discover a reliable source of international statistics!  The US Census bureau has a great database of demographic indicators for “countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more.”  Indicators are:

  • Birth, death, and growth rates, migration rates, infant mortality, and life expectancy
  • Fertility rates
  • Total population and population by age and sex

And, always vital when dealing with sources of international statistics – the Census Bureau evaluate national census/survey results and accurately date them to ensure consistent  data across countries.   Data is currently available in table format; after July 1, 2009 you can also generate “population pyramids!”

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Online Resource (Free)

GPO Access Content Migration

GPO Access is in the process of moving information into a new database: Federal Digital System (FDsys).  Some collections are no longer available in GPO Access, one is available  in both and the rest are set to be moved into FDsys by the end of 2009.

According to the GPO FDsys “is an advanced digital system that will enable GPO to manage Government information from all three branches of the U.S. Government.”

For a complete list of collections that have made the move to FDsys (and are no longer findable in GPO Access) see: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action

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Online Resource (Free)

New Treaty Database from the UN

The UN recently put up a database of Diplomatic Conferences which will provide the searcher with access to documents/background information on the negotiation of 12  international treaties.  The oldest conference contained in the database is the Law of the Sea, 1958 and the most recent is Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, 1998.  Other conference topics include treaties between IGOs, consular relations and succession of states.  Note, this database is only available from the United Nations Diplomatic Conferences website – mysteriously, no links to it are available from the UN Treaties site…. 😉

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