Data - Numeric Resources

Welcome to the Libraries' Guide to numerical data!  This guide is designed to help you find data that you can use in your classes and your research.  If this guide does not have the information you are looking for, don't hesitate to email sevin@k-state.edu for help.

Some people use the terms "data" and "statistics" interchangeably. While they are both numeric, they mean different things to researchers and the world of academia. 

Data is raw, unadulterated information

Examples include:

• the number of bars in a city
• the number of pigs in the state
• temperature

With statistics, someone has "done something" to the data, or manipulated it in some way. 

Examples include:

• the number of bars per person
• population density
• average daily temperature

Data can be expensive and time-consuming to produce and process - often depending on its size, scope, complexity, and available funding. The more people a survey includes, or the more observations that are recorded, the longer it will take for the data to be collected and processed, and the more expensive it is. 

Data can also be embargoed. This is a ban on the publication of documents (or in this case data), for security or copyright reasons. Scientists can wait until they have finished analyzing their data before making it available. The US Census does this as well; reports on the changes in the population were available before the data was released to the general public.

Copyright law does not apply to facts, data, or ideas.

However, copyright may protect the way these facts, ideas, and systems are expressed such as: 

• A scholarly article that expresses certain concepts and ideas
• An encyclopedia that expresses facts
• A book that expresses a method of operation 
• A magazine that expresses a new discovery

Do you have a copyright question? Contact cads@k-state.edu