Research Guides: Statistics: National Statistics

Using Statistics in Your Writing

Purdue OWL: Statistics and Visuals
A handout which explains how to write with statistics including quick tips, writing descriptive statistics, writing inferential statistics, and using visuals with statistics.
The Writing Center at UNC-CH: Statistics
How to use statistics to make your argument as effectively as possible; from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Statistics Every Writer Should Know
The site describes itself as "a simple guide to understanding basic statistics, for journalists and other writers who might not know math"

Key Sources at MJC

Why Use Books:

Use books to read broad overviews and detailed discussions of your topic.

Where Do I Find Books?

You'll use the library catalog to search for books, ebooks, articles, and more.

What if MJC Doesn't Have What I Need?

If you need materials (books, articles, recordings, videos, etc.) that you cannot find in the MJC Library catalog, use our interlibrary loan service.

Featured Books on Statistics:

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States 2022
The Statistical Abstract of the United States has provided a statistical portrait of social, political, demographic, and economic conditions of America since 1878.

Using Databases

Why Use Databases:

The MJC Library subscribes to many databases filled with authoritative articles, book chapters, research reports, statistics, videos, and more from thousands of respected publications. You can search these databases either by topic or for a specific article.

Using the Library's article databases ensures that you're using sources your instructors expect you to use, and you won't have to cull through millions of unrelated Web pages that will waste your time and energy.

All of these resources are free for you because you are a student at MJC. If you're working from anywhere off campus, you'll need to sign in. Once you click on the name of a database simply enter your student ID and six-digit birth date.

Find National Statistics on the Web

The following resources provide information about the United States as a whole.

United States Census Bureau
A goldmine of statistical information, offering ability to find information by state, city, or zip code
United States Census Publications
The United States Census provides a wealth of data on many aspects of the United States. Scroll down this publications page to find historical census data going back to the 1800s.
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You can learn a lot about a state or county by looking at the census for the decade about which you are researching.
Fed Stats
Statistics collected by over 100 separate U.S. government agencies are gathered together. Subjects are searchable by keywords or by a list of topics. Mapstats allows searches for statistics from U.S. states, counties, and cities
Pew Research Center Data
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions.
USA.gov Data & Statistics
From the federal government. All sorts of statistics about Americans, from population to economics to energy