Otis College LibGuides: Business Resources Guide: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Company Profiles, Reports, and Market Research

American Customer Satisfaction Index
Analyzes customer satisfaction for household products and services available to U.S. consumers
Business Insights: Essentials
LAPL Library Card required. Brings together in a single database company profiles, company brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and periodicals.
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An E-Card, available online with an L.A. address
County Business Patterns
Annual series from U.S. Census Bureau provides national economic data by industry and county, uses SIC and NAICS classification systems.
Demographics Now (Gale)
LAPL Library Card required. Search for an individual, a friend, a relative or create a market research list from over 206 million people. Search for an individual company or create a mailing list of multiple companies from over 23 million businesses households! Access a demographic report on any geography - or compare multiple geographies - for information including income, housing, race, age, education, retail spending, consumer expenditures, businesses and more.
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An E-Card, available online with an L.A. address
Economic Census
Profiles the U.S. economy every 5 years, from national to local level providing business statistics, data by SIC and NAICS.
FreeDemographics
Free demographic and market data. Paid versions let you add multiple criteria, get prepackaged data, and more.
General Business (Gale)
LAPL Library Card required. Analyze company performance and activity, industry events and trends in management, economics and politics. A combination of broker research reports, trade publications, newspapers, journals and company directory listings are included. Formerly called General Business File ASAP
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An E-Card, available online with an L.A. address
ReferenceUSA Business Database
LAPL Library Card required. Over 24 million U.S. businesses searchable by name, industry, SIC, geographic location and size. Research executives and companies, find new business opportunities, find news articles, conduct job searches, research papers, locate addresses and phone numbers, conduct market research, and more.
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An E-Card, available online with an L.A. address
S&P Global Capital IQ NetAdvantage
LAPL Library Card required. Contains descriptive and financial data on U.S. and non-U.S. corporations. Three files are provided: Executives, Private Companies, and Public Companies.
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An E-Card, available online with an L.A. address

Small Businesses

LAPL: Small Business Entrepreneurship
Events, databases, and guides about creating a small business using LAPL reources

Small Business Research Guide
Created by LA Public Library

Small Business Administration (SBA)
United States government agency to help small business owners and entrepreneurs. Check out the Business Guide and Learning Center sections

United States Statistics and Demographics

US Census Bureau
Collects and disseminates data gathered from various surveys and instruments, including the Population Census conducted every 10 years.

Data.gov
Provides access to US federal open government data as well as data from state, local, and tribal governments.
American FactFinder
Provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The data in American FactFinder come from several censuses and surveys.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data for US, regional, state, local areas
CensusScope
Free interface into data and trends from the 2000, 1990, and 1980 censuses. Some newer and older data available.
Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE)
Produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES.)
Economic Research Service (ERS): State Fact Sheets
Produced by the US Department of Agriculture, provides information on population, income, poverty, food security, education, employment, organic agriculture, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, top commodities, and agricultural exports. Links to available county-level data are included.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Find career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations
Statistical Abstracts
Published annually from 1887-2012, it is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
National Zoning Atlas
The National Zoning Atlas is a collaborative project digitizing, demystifying, & democratizing ~30,000 U.S. zoning codes. It was founded by Cornell University professor Sara Bronin and has involved over 300 zoning and geospatial analysts.
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February 2024: Does not include zoning laws for Los Angeles or Southern California

Global Trade

Foreign Trade Information System
Trade agreements, fact sheets, and more from the Organization of American States (OAS).
World Trade Organization
International organization that deals with trade between nations.

Los Angeles and California

California Demographics Reports
Research and analysis based on census data from 1990, 2000, and 2010.
Community Facts: Los Angeles County
Browse U.S. Census Bureau data for LA county in American FactFinder
LAPD Crime Mapping
Crime statistics searchable by type and location.
LAPL Business, Company & Consumer Information
Selected list of free resources on banking, real estate, companies, statistics, small businesses, and more, with a focus on California and Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health - Data & Statistics
Browse all publicly available data
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Not available as HTTPS
Mapping LA Neighborhoods
Interactive map of Los Angeles neighborhoods, designed to be a tool for reporters and editors to be consistent when describing neighborhoods in news stories.
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Not available as HTTPS
York and Fig
Radio series and website. Deep dive into the gentrification and economic changes in Highland Park in 2015. Produced by the Wealth and Poverty Desk of Marketplace.

Tools

Alteryx Analytics Gallery
Analytics platform. Paid service with a free demo.
Statista
Statistics Portal where specialists manually analyze, audit and update each of their statistics. Sign up for a free account.

CAUTION: Data Manipulation

Whenever you are working with statistics, be mindful of the underlying data:

Who gathered the data? Why are they gathering it?
How did they collect the data? Was the data self-reported?
What questions were asked? Did they including leading questions?
What is the sample size? Is it large enough to be significant?
Who is reporting the data? Why?

Learn more about thinking critically about statistics:

Mona Chalabi: 3 Ways to Spot a Bad Statistic: TED talk

The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics by Grady Klein; Alan Dabney The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics is the most imaginative and accessible introductory statistics course you'll ever take. Employing an irresistible cast of dragon-riding Vikings, lizard-throwing giants, and feuding aliens, the renowned illustrator Grady Klein and the award-winning statistician Alan Dabney teach you how to collect reliable data, make confident statements based on limited information, and judge the usefulness of polls and the other numbers that you're bombarded with every day. If you want to go beyond the basics, they've created the ultimate resource: "The Math Cave," where they reveal the more advanced formulas and concepts. Timely, authoritative, and hilarious, The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics is an essential guide for anyone who wants to better navigate our data-driven world.
Call Number: QA276 K544 2013
ISBN: 9780809033669
Publication Date: 2013-07-02
No BS (Bad Stats) by Ivory A. Toldson What if everything you thought you knew about Black people generally, and educating Black children specifically, was based on BS (bad stats)? Ivory A. Toldson uses data analysis, anecdotes, and powerful commentary to dispel common myths and challenge conventional beliefs about educating Black children. With provocative, engaging, and at times humorous prose, Toldson teaches educators, parents, advocates, and students how to avoid BS, raise expectations, and create an educational agenda for Black children that is based on good data, thoughtful analysis, and compassion. No BS helps people understand why Black people need people who believe in Black people enough not to believe every bad thing they hear about Black people.
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 9789004397040
Publication Date: 2019-02-01

Data Literacy
Research guide about statistics and information literacy created by MLIS students at Pratt
Correlation Does Not Imply Causation
Introduction to correlation vs. causation when evaluating statistics
Polling methods are changing, but reporting the views of Asian Americans remains a challenge
Pew Research Center report by Courtney Kennedy and Neil G. Ruiz, July 1, 2020
The Problem with Statistics... TikTok collaboration by wordy.talk and alex.on.keys about the dangers of over-reporting and under-sampling

Books and E-Books

Check out the Who's Buying E-Book Series from The New Strategist

Databases

Don't forget articles in the Databases.

Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
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Information on various sides of social issues. You can limit by using the term STATISTICS.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
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The American newspaper of record.
In particular, try the NY Times Business and Entrepreneurship sections.
Also available as text-only in ProQuest Research Library.
ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
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Mulitdisciplinary, but you can limit your search to the Business Research Library
Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Full text of Online edition of newspaper from 2010 - present. No images.

Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a non-partisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.

Research areas include:

News and Analysis

The Business Journals
Business news from major US cities.
ClickZ
Digital marketing community with reports and analysis.
CNET
Tracks latest consumer technology with news reports, product reviews, how-tos, and more.
Know This
Information and resources for business professionals, academics, and students of marketing and related fields. Free and low-cost educational materials.
Market Research Society (MRS)
UK professional body for research, insight and analytics.
Population Research Bureau
U.S. and International Programs that inform people about population, health, and the environment, and empower others to use this information to advance the well-being of current and future generations.

Business Resources Guide: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES