OIE 505: Quantitative Methods

R. DeRamus

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Finding Data Sets

Many online sources allow data downloads into CSV, or Comma Separated Value format which will open in Excel. If the tables are text only format: use Excel import wizard, or paste data into column A and choose the Data menu, Text to Columns to convert.

Advanced searching in many search engines allow screening of results to spreadsheet files: In Google, add filetype:xls to your search.

Ask a reference librarian if you need a specific data set that you cannot locate. Email Library Questions, call x6700 or stop by.

Determining How To Obtain a Data Set for Your Project

Who would create the data set you need? Government agency, another corporation, trade association?
Would they share this information publicly? Would it be available for purchase?
Could you create the data set yourself or obtain data from your own company?

Library Subscriptions with Data - Time Series

LexisNexis Statistical - Data on all topics
Thomson One Banker Analytics - Data on publicly traded companies

Web Sites with Free Data Series

Australian Social Science Data Archive
Biz/ed - Data sets and data skills materials
Bureau of Economic Analysis - National, international, and regional data, such as GDP, (many from Survey of Current Business), GDP by industry group, shipments of manufacturing industries.
Data Ferret - Housing, food, population, health related U.S. data from Census bureau
Data on the Net - Search or browse University of San Diego's numeric Social Science statistical data, data catalogs, data libraries, social science gateways, addresses and more.
Economagic - Over 200,000 data files, with charts and excel files for each
FedStats - U.S. data on all topics
FRED: Federal Reserve Economic Data - database of over 3000 U.S. economic time series
NBER Data Sets - Macro, Industry, Productivity and other data. Be sure to get the readme file for data/column definitions.
Statistical Abstract of the United States - Data on all topics
USDA Economics and Statistics System: Agricultural DATA SETS - Crops, farm, food, land, livestock, international, trade and other agricultural data series
Yahoo! Finance - Historical stock prices, enter Symbol, choose Download data

Finding Past WPI Projects, Theses and Dissertations

Data sets are not often included however you may be able to contact the author.

Undergraduate IQP and MQP Projects
WPI Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Dissertation Abstracts - Beyond WPI: Theses and Disserations of other institutions (may be difficulty to obtain, although you could try ILL, you may have to purchase a reprint)
Papers First - indexes papers presented at conferences worldwide
Working Papers in Business - papers before they are published are often stored on institutional repositories

Researching Companies

WPI Electronic Resources:

Hoovers
Thomson One-Banker Analytics: Search, view and extract information on companies, most internal but allows company & competitor comparisons
General BusinessFile ASAP

Free Web Sites:

Current Company/Industry News And Articles

Many academic journals will analyze trends on such things as new product development, outsourcing, and even transportation logistics. Trade magazines will highlight trends, and strategies as well often with a focus on a specific company or industry. Below are sources to find articles in both academic research journals as well as trade publications.

Connect to our Searchable Collections > Databases & Electronic Resources to find databases by category such as Company, Business & Management, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, or Urban Planning.

Selected Databases:

FirstSearch Business and Industry and Business and Management Practices
LEXIS®-NEXIS® Academic: Provides a wide range of full text news, legal, and business information. Includes patent information as well. More than 5,000 full text publications are included. Coverage: Varies by publication.

Sample Searches

(outsourc* or contracting out) and (staples or officemax or office suppl* or office equipment)

Glean information on the industry as well:
(staples or officemax or office suppl* or office equipment) and (industry or market or forecasts or trends or sales or units)

EBSCOhost Business Source Premier: Provides full text for nearly 3,300 scholarly business journals, including full text for more than 1000 peer-reviewed business publications dating as far back as 1922.

EBSCOhost Business Source Premier - Business Searching Interface also contains industry profiles, from Datamonitor, refine search by choosing Publication Type, Industry Report. For overview of company in a PDF format by Datamonitor, search for company name, then choose Company profiles.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Search our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find out one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

Finding Industry Publications and Trade Associations

Industry experts are often the best source of information. For trade publications: Search the our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list.

For instance, if your topic relates to transportation logistics, we have Transportation Research journal accessible within our ScienceDirect subscription.

Trade Associations: track these down for contacts and industry trends, statistics, and benchmarking. Use free online association directories or the print reference Gale Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Associations (REF HD2425 .G34) or try a web search on keyword and (association OR council OR society)

Finding Competitors to Benchmark

Check Competition section of 10-K filing if publicly traded company
Check Hoovers
Search Patents
Search for other similar products and research the company
Try company directories in the library or online (by industry or product code):
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations. 5 vols. Ref HG4057 A219
- Thomas Register of American Manufacturers.
- LexisNexis Academic - choose Business, Company Profiles.

Industry Information

Use Databases & Electronic Resources mentioned above, but also the following resources may also be useful.

Encyclopedia of American Industries - snapshots of industry data by broad industry category (electronic components; Electronic Computers, etc. by SIC code)
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [REFDESK HF5681 R25 T68].
Business Statistics of the United States. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press. [REF HC 101 A13124]
The Value Line Investment Survey - contains one page company & industry snapshots, with forecasted earning and sales information as well as some textual analysis of the current situation for investors.

Give Credit! Cite Your Sources

Questions?

Stop by the reference desk or set up a research consultation.

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Last modified: Nov 15, 2007, 17:00 EST