Statistics.  You’ve probably had a project that required them.  Maybe you just needed a single number – what percentage of the population corresponds to what characteristic.  Or maybe you needed to show a trend, how a statistic changed over time.  Regardless, it’s a special type of information that can sometimes be difficult to search for. Lots of organizations collect statistics.  Some of these organizations are more reliable than others.  The United States government is one of the major statistics-collecting groups, and it gathers data on a staggering variety of topics.  You’re probably familiar with some of them – the Census Bureau gathers population statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects information about employment – including economic data, types of … Continued