About Secondary Data

To locate secondary data, use relevant terms and search a variety of types of resources. Government and associations or organizations may publish relevant authoritative secondary data, primary source documents and information in journals and on the Web. For regional data, use geographic location(s) in a search, such as Tulsa, Inola, or a zip code.

Types of secondary data may include:

  • Demographics by: population, gender, ethnic group, migration trends, urban/rural, community, age, education level, household income, economic level, geographic data/location
  • Socioeconomic and Environmental
  • Health - mortality, immunization rate, health services and access, facility-to-population ratio
  • Sociocultural factors or characteristics - customs, education, family, language, neighborhood, politics, social interactions (peer relationships), technology and values
  • Religious/Spiritual - affiliations, beliefs, traditions

In addition to websites and sample results listed on this guide, search your area or people group and the data or statistics you need on the Web. Limit the results to government documents for relevant, reliable results. Examples:

your concept(s) and location and site:.gov
health and Tulsa and demographic
Teshi Accra
and (demographic or population) and site:.gov

About Demographic Resources & Keyword Searching

Demographic Resources

Demographic data can be found in a variety of resources, including news and database articles, government resources, and websites.

Company, business, and news websites may provide some narrower demographics of a larger community, the mission or vision statement, purpose, information on the physical environment, services, beliefs, community composition and more
Example:

Charitable and non-profit organization websites may provide the philosophy, leadership, purpose, program(s) and more.
Examples:

Government sites contain a variety of data, including demographics for specific areas and people groups.
Examples:

Healthcare and government health department websites include surveys, vital statistic reports, health outcomes, behavioral factors and more.

School data and demographics can be gleaned from government regional, education, and nonprofit sites. Check out the resources listed on the "Nonprofit Organizations and Businesses" and "Regional Statistics and Data" tabs.

Keyword Searching
For the web or a database, use relevant words for a general topic or specific concept.
Examples:

  • physical environment; climate; spaces, land
  • demographic, age, race, ethnicity, sex, marital status, trends, morbidity & mortality
  • politics, travel/transportation, boundaries; community threats, disasters
  • culture, society, socio-cultural, social environment, characteristics
  • statistic, data, overview
  • trends, community environment, growth, decline, expansion, weakness

Sample searches, articles and web documents are provided on this guide to help students navigate and explore resources relevant to the assignment and target communities. View sample resources and search examples on these pages, then edit to match your research needs.

Search Authoritative Websites & Government Statistics

Search for and restrict results to government and association or organization data. As shown in the chart below, limit to domain .gov (site:.gov) for government sites, or add the term association or organization to your search expression.

searching statistics chart