Research Guides: COMM 306: Argumentation: Research Tools

Understanding & Evaluating Statistics

Statistics & Data Resources

Sage Stats
Features statistical data series created from more than 200,000 government and non-government datasets, covering popular topics of research interest for U.S. states, counties, cities, metropolitan areas, and ZIP codes.
Data.gov
Open data from the U.S. Government, provided by hundreds of organizations, including Federal agencies.
Census Bureau
American census data as well as other information regarding population, housing, economics and more
United Nations Statistical Yearbook
The Statistical Yearbook is an annual compilation of a wide range of international economic, social and environmental statistics on over 200 countries and areas, compiled from sources including UN agencies and other international, national and specialized organizations. The 2023 edition contains data available to the Statistics Division as of 31 July 2023 and presents them in 33 tables on topics such as: communication; crime; development assistance; education; energy; environment; finance; gender; international merchandise trade; international tourism; labour force; national accounts; population and migration; price and production indices; and science and technology. Most tables covering the period up to 2023. Accompanying the tables are technical notes providing brief descriptions of major statistical concepts, definitions and classifications.

National Center for Health Statistics
A variety of health statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
National Vital Statistics System
Data from the National Center for Health Statistics and systems in various jurisdictions registering births, deaths, marriages, divorces and fetal deaths.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): Law Enforcement
The mission of BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. BJS also provides financial and technical support to state, local, and tribal governments to improve both their statistical capabilities and the quality and utility of their criminal history records.
National Center for Juvenile Justice
The research division of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, NCJJ is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is "effective justice for children and families through research and technical assistance."
International Centre for Prison Studies
"Founded in 1997 for the purposes of conducting research on prisons and imprisonment, developing and disseminating knowledge about how imprisonment should be used, and contributing to improved policy and practice in prisons across the world."

Women's Health FastStats (CDC)
Statistics on women's general health, alcohol use, physical activity, mammographies and more.
Men's Health FastStats (CDC)
Data on a wide range of men's health issues.
World Health Organization: Women & Health
Data on women's health from all over the world, including life expectancy, maternal mortality, violence against women, and more.
Women's Employment Data (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
Assembled by the Department of Labor, this resource contains "current and historical statistics on a broad range of topics and sub-populations of women in the labor force".

KIDS Count Data Center
A project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, it is "the premier source for data on child and family well-being in the U.S."
ChildStats.gov
Features the report "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being"
The State of America's Children Report
A comprehensive report by the Children's Defense Fund covering child poverty, homelessness, nutrition, health, education, juvenile justice and more. View the entire report, by section or by state.
Administration for Children & Families
"ACF data and reports highlight our various programs and grants that improve the lives of America's most vulnerable children, families, communities and individuals."

Background Research & Topic Overviews

The following databases are helpful in locating background research on the subject of your argumentation paper:

Recommended databases to start with:

Credo Reference E-Book Collection
Reference e-books on a wide range of topics. Sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, key concepts, key thinkers, handbooks, atlases, and more. Search by keyword or browse titles by topic.
General One File
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This general periodical database contains over 12,000 periodicals, newspapers, reference books and multimedia sources, over half of which are full text. The backfile extends nearly 30 years. Subjects include humanities, education, environmental issues, technology, health care, politics and more.

Politics and current events summaries:

Opposing Viewpoints
Contextual information and opinions on hundreds of social issues. The resource includes continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio and links to vetted websites.
CQ Researcher
n-depth reporting on current controversial issues, with an introductory overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.
Issues & Controversies
More than 900 timely, in-depth articles on current issues. Features include pro/con statements, timelines, news updates, editorial cartoons, statistics, and more.

Article Databases

In addition to the multidisciplinary databases listed below, users can review subject-specific databases on the library's A-Z Databases list using the subject filter option.

Academic or Scholarly Articles:

Academic Search Premier
This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975
Academic OneFile
Academic OneFile is the premier source of peer-reviewed full-text scholarly content across the academic disciplines. With millions of articles available in both PDF and HTML full-text, Academic OneFile is both authoritative and comprehensive.
JSTOR
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Forsyth Library provides licensed access to the following collections in JSTOR: Arts & Sciences I, Arts & Sciences VII, and Biological Sciences. These collections include hundreds of different titles across 71 different disciplines.

Newspapers and magazine articles:

Access World News Research Collection
This is a full-text news resource offering coverage of over 8,200 local, regional, national and international sources from over 200 countries. Browse replicas of popular local newspapers' like the Topeka Capital Journal and Kansas City Star, with full-color layouts of all news articles, graphics, advertisements, classifieds, weather reports, box scores, puzzles, cartoons and more. Available as soon as print editions.
Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni™ features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis, including Federal and State legal cases, U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790, full-text of U.S. & World newspapers, business articles, financials, and company/industry information & profiles. Try out the new intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents. Nexis Uni is the new site for the resource formerly known as LexisNexis Academic.

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