New ‘Country Guide’

A new ‘Country Guide’ has been added to the list of research guides. This illustrates the resources available to students and staff at the University of Manchester to assist in their research efforts.

See full listing at:  Research Guides

The ‘Corporate Strategy’ guide has been updated to include changes to the GMID market research database, now known as ‘Passport GMID’. Look out for paper copies of the guide in the Precinct and Eddie Davies libraries.

A New Look for GMID

GMID, Global Market Information Database, provides access to International market analysis and socio-economic/demographic data. It is an excellent resource for researching country intelligence, international markets and international consumer lifestyles.

As of this week there have been a few changes including a new interface, improved usability and a slightly new name, Passport GMID. For those who regularly use GMID don’t worry although it may look a little different the core functionality and content remain the same. In essence the new features include:

• A new look: a new simplified search interface including quick access to key industries/consumer data and analyses
• Predictive text searching: to help you make more targeted free text searches
• Better organised results: relevance driven and with filters to help you refine searches
• Faster navigation: seamlessly move between results page, content and related content
• Improved downloads for stats: to help you leverage data more easily

On accessing Passport GMID there is a short introductory video to familiarise you with the new interface and help you make the most of the new functionality.

To access Passport GMID, see “Markets & Sectors” or “Countries & Regions” via the library databases on the MBS Library website: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/library.

Further help on accessing and using GMID see our Helping You – Research Guides section via our website.

Researching Regional Intelligence: European/International Regional Data

We recently posted on how to find UK Regional data, see  Researching Regional Intelligence:  UK Regional Data (31/03/2011),  and have subsequently been asked how to find similar data for European and International regions.

Europe: Eurostat
Eurostat, the European Union’s official statistical agency produces an annual publication “Eurostat Regional Yearbook” (available in pdf) plus  a wide range of regional datasets available to search, view and download free of charge.

• Eurostat

Search Tip: To access the publication and the datasets  select the “Statistics Tab”, then “Regions and Cities”. There are options to view the Regional Yearbook plus access to the main data tables and more detailed datasets for regions and cities. See our quick video for “Finding European Regional Datasets“.

North America: FedStats
The US Statistical agency Fedstats produces a wealth of detailed regional data, see the sections for “MapStats” and various datasets by theme via the “Statistics by Geography”.

• Fedstats

International: Official Government Statistical Agencies
To find regional statistics for other international countries try the official Government Statistical Agency for the specific country. Data will vary from country to country but you will often find a great deal of data published online and/or contact the agency for further information. You can locate official statistical agencies using a simple search within any search engine eg: “Australia and Official Statistics” or alternatively you can use directories collated by the United Nations or US Bureau of Statistics:

• United Nations: Index to Official Statistical Agencies
• US Bureau of Statistics: Index of Official Statistical Agencies
  

Researching Regional Intelligence: UK Regional Data

The John Rylands Univesity Library  subscribes to a range of data sources providing national economic and socio-demographic data. Databases such as GMID (Global Market Information Database), ESDS International, Global Insights and Global Financial data provide a wealth of datasets providing a valuable insight into economic and social trends from a country perspective. Regional data can, however, be a little trickier to find but there are many freely available sources you can use to research UK regional data.

Regional Trends: Office of National Statistics
Regional Trends in a comprehensive annual publication collated by the Office of National Statistics (the UK Government Statistical Office) and is the most authoritative publication for regional data. It provides detailed demographic, social, industrial and economic statistics for the sub-regions of the UK (economy, education, environment, health, housing, labour, lifestyles, population, transport and crime).   Selecting either the latest online or pdf report provides interactive access to related analysis and datasets. Navigating the data can be confusing, see the following videos demonstrate three key ways to finding data:

• Regional Trends: Navigating the Interactive Map and tables
• Regional Trends: Navigating the Mini Site Map
• Regional Trends: Navigating the pdf tables of contents

ONS Neighbourhood Statistics
You can drill even further for local data using the Office of National Statistics Neighbourhood statistics site. This site provides an ever increasing range of small area data allowing you to paint a picture of life in local communities. It is possible to locate detailed data using the “Area search” (enter an area name or a postcode) or a snapshot using the “Neighbourhood Summary” search. Don’t know the postcode or area name? use the “Topic Search” to find predefined interactive datasets by theme.  As local data is more difficult to research and obtain much of the data is sourced from the UK Census (taken every 10 years) although recent data is available depending on the dataset.  Note: using this website does require some knowledge of local authority/ward area names or postcode areas and you may need to do a little preparatory work to identify your area before searching.

• ONS Neighbourhood Statistics: Finding datasets for an area
• ONS Neighbourhood Statistics: Finding a Summary Report for a Postcode area
• ONS Neighbourhood Statistics: Finding data by theme

Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)
RDAs are regional government bodies established to encourage regional growth and investment. They generally have research units, (eg North West Development Agency’s North West Regional Intelligence Unit),  collating facts and figures for the region which are published on their websites, (where on the website will vary but look for links to publications, economic statistics, research and statistics, economic strategy under various headings). It may take a little time to find but can be worth the effort!

UK City Councils: Economic Development Units
Finally another way of finding local regional data is to try the local City or Borough Council. Most councils will produce an economic strategy or have an Economic Development Unit collating local area statistics, (an example is Manchester City Council’s Corporate Research & Intelligence Unit). Note: This can be a more time consuming route as you need to consult each individual website, the layout of which will vary from council to council and it is not always guaranteed data will be published online. Details of UK councils can be found online from the UK Government website.

Knowing where to start to find high quality data from external websites can be a daunting task, why not try our Delicious page providing details of useful web sites evaluated by our expert staff. You can access the site via the MBS Library Website or directly via http://www.delicious.com/mbslibrary.  Alternatively contact us and speak to a member of our expert team who can help and advise you find relevant resources for your research:

Telephone: 0161 275 6507
Email: libdesk@mbs.ac.uk