Industry Research Guide: Industry Research
A General Guide to Industry Research
Reference Books
- Business statistics of the United StatesThis edition of Business Statistics contains more than 4,000 data series covering virtually every aspect of the U.S. economy, including GDP by state and region, employment, production, prices, productivity, international trade, money supply, and interest rates
- Encyclopedia of AssociationsA guide to over 23,000 national and international organizations. Useful for finding trade and industry associations and their web sites.
- Mergent's industry reviewComprehensive statistical reference containing key financial information, operating data, and ratios on approximately 4,000 companies arranged and ranked by industry.
Statistical and Visualization Tools
- StatistaStatista provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources; also includes industry reports and dossiers from mechanical engineering and healthcare to telecommunications.
- Social explorerSocial explorer visually display the demographic change that has occurred in the U.S. since 1790 through the present, for the country over all down to the level of the county.
Industry Statistics
- Annual Business Survey (ABS) ProgramCensus.govThe ABS Program combines data results from survey respondents and administrative records to produce data on business ownership
- Census. US GovernmentA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
- Data Axle reference solutions This link opens in a new window
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Directory information on U.S. and Canadian business, health care, and residential listings. Search by company name, geographic area, business type, SIC code, yellow page listing, revenue, location, number of employees or any combination of the above. In addition to address and phone number, each entry includes officer names and titles, corporate affiliation, business type and size of yellow page advertising. Toll free and fax numbers are given for some companies. - Data planet. This link opens in a new windowProvides access to statistical data produced by U.S. Federal agencies, States, private organizations, and major intergovernmental organizations. There are over 185+ billion data points available in charts, maps, views, rankings, time series and tables in the Data Planet repository. Data Planet offers powerful capabilities to compare & contrast multiple data series, perform statistical calculations on the data, and customize output views.
- Industry snapshotsProvide worldwide market data for a broad range of industries and regions.
- Mintel market sizes This link opens in a new window
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Mintel GMN is a trusted database containing market size, market share and forecast data for thousands of consumer goods categories worldwide.
- ProQuest statistical abstract of the U.SThe ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. The online version includes monthly updates to tables, deep searching at the line-item level, powerful facets for narrowing search results, image and spreadsheet versions of all current and historical tables, along with links to provider sites.
- Standard & Poor's Net AdvantageEach survey is divided into two parts. 1) the basic analysis which contains an examination of prospects for that industry followed by composite industry data & a comparative company analysis 2) the current analysis which contains the latest developments and some industry and company statistics.
- USA trade onlineProvides U.S. export and import information on more than 18,000 commodities presented in the Harmonized Tariff Classification System for current month and previous month; cumulative year to date, current year and prior year; and annual two year and historical data.
Classification Codes
Industry classification codes allow you to identify, define and categorize industries. You can use them in many databases to find information by industry.
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): Adopted in the 1990s by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to categorize industries. Replaced the SIC system (see below).
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC): SIC is a four-digit classification system developed in the 1930's for use by the U.S. federal government. Although still used in some databases, the SIC classification system is no longer being revised.
- International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC): maintained by the U.N. Statistics Division, the ISIC is used in a number of international databases, such as ILO's LABORSTA. Rev.4 is the current version. See link on sidebar at this site to other available classifications.
Industry Ratio
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial RatiosCall Number: HF5681 .R25T68Contains operating and financial information for corporations with and without net incomes as well as only for those companies in an industry that operated at a profit. Organized by the SIC Code.
Industry norms and key business ratiosCall Number: HD47. D82Financial ratios arranged by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes.
IRS Corporate Financial RatiosCall Number: HF5681 .I77Compiled from IRS data from income statements and balance sheets for companies with and without net income. Organized by major and minor industry groups.
RMA annual statement studiesCall Number: HF5681 .B2R5Balance sheet and income statements as well as commonly used ratios for over 360 industries. Organized by the SIC Code as well as title of industry. Includes the most recent five years of data.
