Why include statistics?
Depending upon the type of paper you are writing, statistics may add significance, importance, and/or interest. Relevant statistics may support the reason why you chose the topic or indicate to the reader why they should read your paper.

Where to look?
To find statistics search all types of resources: government sites, organization and associations sites, databases, health and sport databases and sites. Many of the suggested websites listed in the boxes below are professor recommendations.

TIP: Watch for references to primary sources as you review articles in databases and on the Web.

ORU Databases - General and Subject Specific
Use the subject index or thesaurus to browse your topic, find related terms and identify terms to narrow and/or expand your topic. Try searching with percent, data, statistic*, etc.

ORU Journals - Specific Titles or Subject Related
Go to the Journals List and type a subject or keyword to get a list of journals. Select a journal title. Search your topic within a journal. Or, browse the journal table of contents for reports, surveys and research project.

What to search?
Consider your thesis, identify the key words and concepts, and add search terms that identify statistical data, such as percent, data or statistic.

Search the Web using your key terms and add words like data, statistic, or fact sheet.

To get authoritative sites, add site:.gov to your search, which will limit the results to government sites.

Note: When searching databases for statistics, include the word percent with your key concepts or terms.