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Secondary Research: Statistics and Data

Citing

It is just as important to cite the statistics and data you use as any other source.  However, you may discover that your preferred citation style doesn't have any rules covering statistics or datasets. If this is the case then your main focus should be to include the common elements you'd want to provide for any type of source.

 

Common Elements

 

  • Author/creator  e.g., name of researcher or organization who generated the statistic / dataset.
     
  • Title of the work
     
  • Year the work was published
     
  • Publisher e.g., the service / site that hosts the data.
     
    • In the case of statistics it's common for the publisher to be the same as the author/creator, e.g., Statistics Canada, OECD, BC Stats etc.  If this is the case you can omit the publisher field. 
       
    • In the case of a dataset, however, the "publisher" would generally be the the data repository, database, or site that hosts the data.  As above, if the author is the same as the publisher you do not need to repeat this information.
       
  • DOI for the dataset or other permanent link to the site where you found the statistic.

 

 

Once you have these pieces of information, simply arrange them in the order and according to the formatting rules of the citation style in question: e.g., are titles normally italicized in the style you're using?  If yes, then make sure to do so when citing your statistic/data source.

 

Some Guidance

 

  • Note: Some style guides, such as APA, do provide guidance on how to cite common statistical/data visualization formats such as tables and figures, so make sure to check and follow these rules if provided by the style guide you're using.
     
  • Statistics Canada auto-generates a suggested citation for all of its tables, which you can tweak to fit the particular citation style you're using.