Statistics

How do I find Statistics?

Statistics can sometimes be difficult to track down but they present an opportunity to back up thoughts and ideas with cold, hard numbers. The best place to find resources that will provide statistics on the State, Federal, International and even Samford community level is to check out the library's Statistics Resources page.

One of the most tried and true methods for finding out statistics in the United States is a single publication called The Statistical Abstract of the United States (also known as Stat Abs). This publication covers a wide variety of topics. From population to education and transportation to recreation, the Statistical Abstract provides merely a taste of the vast numbers of statistics available not only from the Federal government, but from a wide variety of private organizations and publications. Below is an example of an entry from the most recent edition of Stat Abs.

statistics on household pets

  • The area shaded in red gives you an example of some very basic statistics on pet ownership in the U.S. This could be useful in showing trends in American culture.
  • The blue area takes the above information and breaks it down by household characteristics. This information could be useful in targeting advertising or services to the largest group of pet owners.
  • The green area gives information about pet care costs. This could be useful in deciding what kind of pet fits your budget.
  • The orange area gives you the source of all this information. This is extremely useful because if I want to know more about pet owners and pet care costs, such as how many men versus women own dogs or how much people spend on pet food for various kinds of animals, this source, the AVMA's U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook 2002, is going to be the first place that I check.

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