Statistical Abstract of the United States

Finding statistics from the federal government.

Printable version available at www.uwf.edu/jdebellis/StatisticalAbstract.ppt

Objectives

At the conclusion of this tutorial you should be able to do the following:

Locate the statistics for your industry in the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Write a correct APA citation for a statistic found in the Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Enter the URL:

Statistical Abstract of the United States homepage

Statistical Abstract: What is It?

The Statistical Abstract is the premier statistical publication published by the federal government.

The publication is a compilation and collection of statistics collected by every agency of the federal government on almost any topic.

Statistical Abstract: publication dates & formats

The Statistical Abstract has been in continuous publication since 1878 by the United States Bureau of the Census. Because of federal budget reductions to the Census Bureau, it is likely this will be the last edition of this long-running publication in both print and electronic versions.

Most libraries continue to opt to receive a print copy as well as use the online version. The UWF library has almost an entire set in the reference collection at: HA202.U58. The most recent editions are kept at the Reference Desk and can be asked for by title.

Statistical Abstract: helpful hints

To use the electronic copy, you must have Adobe Acrobat or Excel (or Excel reader) installed on your computer. You may download a free copy of either of these from the Statistical Abstract homepage.

The current edition is currently available as print, a PDF copy of the print version and an Excel format.

Statistical Abstract: helpful hints

Indexing in the print and pdf copy refers to table number and not page number.

Table numbers do not vary extensively from year to year. If you find a table in the current edition and want to see the same table from a previous year, you can reasonably expect to find the information under the same number. Over the course of a decade, changes in table numbers do occur, so you may find you will need to go back to the index to locate the information published in more distant years.

Getting started using Excel

Retail and Wholesale Trade

Retail and Wholesale Trade, cont.

Domestic Trade, cont.

Table 1062

How to Cite

United States. Census Bureau. (2011). Table 1062. Food and Alcoholic Beverage Sales by Sales Outlet. Statistical Abstract of the United States. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1062.xls

Getting started with the PDF

2012 Statistical Abstract of the United States

Index

“S”

Supermarkets

Grocery Stores

2006 Statistical Abstract of the United States

Domestic Trade

Table 1016

Footnotes

Notes about data in table

How to cite?

The correct citation follows:

United States. Census Bureau. (2011). Table 632. Nonfarm Industries--Employees and Earnings: 1990 to 2010. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012, 409. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012edition.html.

Thank you

Thank you for viewing this tutorial. Be sure to take the practice quiz to receive

participation credit for this resource.