Lehman College Library: A Guide to Locating Statistical Information and Graphs

A Guide to Locating Statistical Information and Graphics

Numerical literacy is important in all walks of life, from reading a newspaper article that incorporates supplemental graphics to interpreting visual displays at a museum. And, it applies to research in all disciplines. Not surprisingly, it is also a key component of the CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE), which asks students to analyze and compare information in a brief text to related graphics. (For more information on the CPE, visit Lehman College's Guide to the CPE: Reference Guide.) Given its broad application, it is possible to incorporate numerical literacy across the curriculum. The resources on this webpage will help you in this endeavor.

The Lay Out

This webpage provides four numerical literacy resources: Create an Assignment provides step-by-step instructions on how to use Lehman College Library databases to create quick assignments; Databases contains a listing of databases where you can find other statistical content to incorporate into your syllabus; the Websites listing includes teaching resources and subject-specific statistical content; and Numerical Literacy Bibliography provides a selective list of further readings.

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive
An electronic library containing the AP's current photos and a selection of pictures from their 50 million image print and negative library. Use AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive to create an assignment.

Lexis-Nexis
Useful for finding statistical graphics in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Use Lexis-Nexis to create an assignment.

American FactFinder
Provides Census Bureau information about communities, economics and society.

ASI – American Statistical Index
Call Number: Reference Documents - Z7554 .U5 A46 (1974,1985-1992 only)
Published by CIS, and now owned by Lexis Nexis, ASI is the place to go to find government statistics on any subject. The electronic version is far superior to the print version for locating statistical graphics. We do not currently subscribe to this database, but it is available at Baruch and John Jay Colleges. Search online for “chart” or “graph” or “graphics” as keywords, plus the subject you’re on which you’re looking for statistics.

CQ Researcher
Provides in depth coverage -- including pro-con summary and graphic data -- of a single "hot" issue each week. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports. The CQ Researcher web site offers online access to issues dating back to October 25, 1991. PDF files are available for full issues dating back to January 1996; for issues published since January 2001, PDF files are in color.

Fedstats.gov [FREE]
http://www.fedstats.gov
Fedstats.gov is the government’s “statistical reference shelf.” Most major statistical resources once only available in print are now readily accessible online and can be quickly found at Fedstats. The “Topic Links,” the alphabetical list of statistical agencies, and the Map Stats feature are all especially helpful.

InfoShare
InfoShare brings together dozens of local, state and federal databases describing population, socio-economic and health conditions. It gives this information for a variety of geographic areas, allowing for profiling and comparisons of areas of your choosing.

Science Direct
Access to 765 full-text journals covering scientific, technical and medical research. Click on "Search" to search across journals. Search for ‘graph’ in the text of the article. Enter your keyword as Abstract/Title/Keywords.

Social Explorer [FREE]
Provides demographic information in an easily understood format: data maps.

Lesson Plans - The Gateway
The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) is a Consortium effort to provide educators with quick and easy access to thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites. GEM is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

Lesson Plans - The Educator's Reference Desk
This collection contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans that were written and submitted by teachers from all over the United States and the world. These lesson plans are also included in the Gateway to Educational Materials which links to over 25,000 online education resources.

Statistical Abstract of the United States (Latest and selected earlier editions online)
Call Number: Lehman Reference HA37 .U114 (Latest behind Reference Desk)

University of Michigan’s Documents Center
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/index.html
The University of Michigan’s Documents Center provides a large selection of links to a variety of governmental and nongovernmental statistical agencies, organized by topic. Click on “Statistics” and browse by topic.

PeriStats
http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/
Developed by the March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, the PeriStats Web site provides free access to US, state, county, and city maternal & infant health data. Create your own graphs and maps!

American Memory - Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem
Search for “statistical atlas”.

Statistics of the U.S. in 1860 - A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llss&fileName=1200/1205/llss1205.db&recNum=2

Charts & Maps - National Agriculture Statistics
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/index.asp

Graphs & Charts – Energy Information Administration
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/graphs_and_charts.htm

Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2001 – Social Security Office of Policy Data
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/income_aged/2001/

American Women's History: Charts, Graphs and Maps
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/history/usa/americanwomen/chart_graph_map.html

Revolution, Reaction and Reform in History - National History Day 2002
http://www.nhd.org/images/uploads/2002CurBook.pdf
See pages 48-55, Analyzing and Using Statistics to Study the Past.

Bennett, Deborah J. Randomness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.

Bernstein, Peter L. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. New York, NY: John Wiley, 1996. Written by an investment consultant, this volume marshals episodes from the history of insurance, probability, and statistics as evidence that modern civilization is distinguished by its ability to understand and control risk. Ranges from traditional foundations of probability in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to such modern topics as game theory, portfolio selection, prospect theory, behavioral finance, and (financial) derivatives.
Burrill, Gail, et al.

Data Analysis and Statistics Across the Curriculum. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1992.
Call Number: Lehman Stacks QA276.18 .D37 1992

Cole, K. C. The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Call Number: Lehman Stacks QA 36.C65 1998
An exploration of mathematics by a science writer whose purpose is to show that an interest in the quality of life is in no way diminished by quantitative argument. Chapters touch on innumeracy, measurement, social implications, and issues of truth and beauty.

Crosby, Alfred W. The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Call Number: Lehman Stacks D 202.C76 1997
Demonstrates how quantitative methods emerged very slowly in the middle ages as artists and merchants learned the value of imposing standardized measures (of length, of time, of money) on their crafts. Argues that this imposition of "quanta" on reality enabled the West's scientific and technological acceleration in the Renaissance.

Desrosiéres, Alain. The Politics of Large Numbers: A History of Statistical Reasoning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Shows how the evolution of statistics has been inextricably bound up with the knowledge and power of governments, tracing the complex reciprocity between modern governments and the mathematical artifacts that both dictate the duties of the state and measure its successes.

Porter, Theodore M. Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
A "daring" study of the history of quantification that "transforms our understanding of the social meaning of numbers." Drawing on a wide range of examples from the worlds of science, accounting, insurance, cost-benefit analysis, and civil engineering, Porter shows that it is "exactly wrong" to interpret the drive for quantitative rigor as somehow inherent in the activity of science except where political and social pressures force compromise. Instead, quantification grows from attempts to develop a strategy of impersonality in response to pressures from outside. Objectivity derives its impetus from cultural contexts, quantification becoming most important where elites are weak, where private negotiation is suspect, and where trust is in short supply.

Rossman, Allan J. "Quantitative Reasoning: Argument with Data." College Teaching, 45:2 (1997) 52-54.
A strategy to help students who enter colleges and universities "sorely lacking" in both the skills and the understanding necessary to confront quantitative information confidently and competently. Quantitative reasoning aims to help students develop their ability to interpret and assess quantitative arguments in the context of practical and important applications. Course materials emphasize critical thinking about quantitative information rather than numerical computations or symbolic manipulations.

Steen, Lynn Arthur (Editor). Why Numbers Count: Quantitative Literacy for Tomorrow's America. New York, NY: The College Board, 1997.
Call Number: Lehman Stacks QA 13.W48 1997
A collection of "front-line perspectives" on the types of quantitative skills students will need if they are to thrive in a rapidly changing society. Essays in this volume, reflecting society at large, convey quite diverse expectations for quantitative literacy.

Tufte, Edward R. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1983.
Call Number: Lehman Stacks QA 276.3 .T83 1983
A "timeless classic"--the Stunk and White of visual communication--that provides a practical theory of data graphics, "instruments for reasoning about quantitative information," richly illustrated with both classics and lapses in statistical graphs. Data graphics, barely two centuries old, display quantities by means of the combined use of points, lines, coordinate systems, numbers, symbols, words, shading, and color. "Of all methods for analyzing and communicating quantitative information, well-designed data graphics are usually the simplest and at the same time the most powerful."

Resources provided by: Robert Farrell Last updated: April 24, 2006 URL: http://www.lehman.edu/provost/library//...

Resources provided by: Robert Farrell
Last updated: April 24, 2006
URL: http://www.lehman.edu/provost/library//...