I read an interesting post on data recently by Clive Thompson on "Why we should learn the language of data.  He ends the article by stating that "Statistics is the new grammar".  And while I agree with the sentiment, it gives me pause, as we haven't done too well with English grammar in my humble opinion.   Understanding data and being able to identify trends is critical to developing a complete picture or scenario.  Too often students who are just learning about statistics will look at a bunch of numbers and make assumptions.  This often results in assumicide and the mark they get on their assignment is the death blow.

Understanding statistics isn't easy and the way people misuse statistics, often on purpose, is a problem for all of us because we may be basing our research on faulty or misrepresented data.  So it is important that we make a concerted effort to ensure that the data we are gathering is from a reputable source, and that we think carefully about our research questions and the data we need to gather in order to answer these questions.  Once the data is gathered we need to make sense of it.  You might consider taking a statistics course if you haven't already done so.

The following is a selected list of reliable resources to help you get started in finding the data.  But before I list the resources to which the York University Libraries provide access, I want to share with you a great video on gapminder, a tool that enables you to create visualizations from your data.  Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen.

Start by looking at our Library Data Services web page to get an overview of where to find data at York University.

York University Libraries are a member of DLI, the Data Liberation Initiative and students can obtain a lot of Statistics Canada data at no cost when it is required for academic research.

Our Data Librarian has created a website with links to reliable resources and it is organized by subject so finding the resources is easy.  Business students will find the Business, Industry and Trade section particularly useful.  I also recommend the Finance and Economics section.

In addition you will find links to business data in the Business Online A-Z web page I created but you have to search for it.  I hope to create a web page on just statistics for business students this summer.   In the meantime I'll highlight a few of my favourites other than Statistics Canada which are highlighted in the paragraph above.

CFMRC - TSX: Standard and Poor's Toronto Stock Exchange database provides current and historical data on stocks traded on the TSX.

CRSP : Provides standard and derived security data available from the NYSE, AMEX and Nasdaq.

Data-Insight Web: This database provides access to time series from numerous DRI-WEFA databanks covering economic, financial, and demographic statistics.

GMID ( Global Market Information Database): Provides business intelligence on companies, countries, industries, and consumers. Includes demographic, economics and marketing statistics for 205 countries.

I ndustry Canada: This Canadian government website contains information and data on a wide variety of topics, e.g. Economic and Market Research Statistics

SourceOECD : Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development e-library offering access to all OECD books, reports, annuals, periodicals, working papers and statistical databases.

World Bank Data:  provides download access to over 2,000 indicators from World Bank data sources.  Includes economic and social indicators.

Yahoo Finance :Offers current and historical company information for companies listed on the major US and Canadian stock exchanges. Includes stock data, charting capabilities, performance, financial ratios (including beta), and comparable companies

As I mentioned this is a selected list, students and faculty are welcome to contact me if you don't see what you need above.