Statistical and Demographic

Business Research

Garth Homer
 THE PILLARS OF BUSINESS
RESEARCH

• An understanding of the service or

product

• A clear concept of who is the customer

• Understanding of the location where the

activity is taking place.
 Working with your client
1. Understand the pillars as it is reflected by your client’s
requirements.
2. Establish what will be the requirements expected of
you.
3. Negotiate your requirements as necessary.
4. Avoid “moving goal posts”.
5. Set up regular meetings.
6. Do data gathering early.
7. Establish your Geography.
 Working with Statistics
• “Currency” is a relative term.
• Statistics are driven by their geography.
• Popular statistics are just that; “popular”
• Acquiring statistics is much quicker and easier
that creating your own.
• Statistics are only as useful as your ability to
explain them.
• Statistics depend on geography
 Background Research
You may be faced with a product or industry that you
know little about. While it may feel like a waste of time
getting an over-all understanding of the area you will be
working in but will pay off in the long run.

Some resources

Periodicals and Magazines

Government websites
Local information websites
Client’s Knowledge
Periodical articles: Data Base access
Full text and citation based:
Canadian Business & Current Affairs
CPI.Q (Canadian Periodical Index)
ABI inform
All full text:
Canadian Newsstand
Canadian newspapers

Links:
http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/Page5025.aspx
Information on your Product or
Service
 Understanding the Product or the Service

In general we sell either a commodity or a service.

•We need to know how much, what cost, the profit ratio.
• We need to know production volumes.
• We need to know our competitors.
• We need to know what are the sources of our product.
 Product commodity and service information
B.C. Statistics
B.C. Manufacturers’ directory online
B.C. Stats. Economic statistics
B.C Statistical Bulletins (monthly topical
statistics: all topics)
Strategis The items
mentioned on this
Strategis page represent only
E-business the major locations
Performance plus for information.
Trade data online These sites deserve
further exploration.
 Performance Plus
Performance Plus
Performance Plus is an on-line performance
benchmarking tool. It provides detailed
financial and employment data on more than
600 business sectors across Canada, including
more than 30 performance benchmarks to help
small businesses determine how they measure
up against their competitors.
NAICS classification outline.
User Guide
Background to your customer
The demographics
Demographics and the “Economic
Customer”

1. The key elements of the demographics of a

customer are age, sex, and location.
2. Individual income, family income, and
expenditures are secondary elements.
3. Mobility, family structure, and dwellings can be
important
 Demographic Sites

• Statistics Canada
• B.C Statistics
• Census Canada
Access to Library homepage
Access to Stats page
 Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada home page

Statistics Canada does produce some buisiness

statistics that are available from their website search
tool or though “The Daily”

Highlights:
Canadian online statistics
Business statistics
 B.C. Statistics home page
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/
Key resources:
Regional socio-economic indicators
Selected B.C. Census Information
B.C. Industries
B.C. Stats Social Statistics.
Selected B.C. Demographic Information
Census 2001

link
 The Census configuration

Census statistics come in three configurations.

1. Static tables
2. Tables that can change one or more variables
3. Data that can be manipulated to suit the users needs

Statistical Manipulation tools

Estat (articles, statistics and links to cansim)
Cansim (Census data micro level)
Beyond 20/20 Tutorial ( Census data)
Key
statistics for
business
research
Provincial and
National statistics

City and regional

district statistics
Variable (topic)
statistics
This gets you
a table of
some type

This gets you data

that you can
manipulate
The Geography of your Market
 The Geography of Your Market
Your Client will have a market area in mind and it is
important that this area is matched with the areas that are
used for the collection of data and statistics.
• For example “the Okanagan Valley” may
mean include variety of areas
•What is meant by the “City of Kelowna?”
To have valid local statistics you must match your needs to
the geography that is used to gather your statistics.
•Some statistics may not be gathered at the
geographic level you require.
 Census 2001 Geography
(link)

1. Community Profiles: Gives Maps of the Census

Geography
2. Geosearch: .
3. Reference Maps:
4. Thematic Maps:

Regional and provincial geography

(link)
Maps of Regions Within BC
Maps Displaying Data by Regions (Thematic
Maps)
 Local Statistical and Background
Information
Economic development commission
Downtown Kelowna Association
HRDC Okanagan Valley
Kelowna Chamber of commerce
Economic Profile 2004 (Central Okanagan)
Community Profiles
 Garth Homer
Statistics, Data, and Government
Information

GHomer@okanagan.bc.ca
Loc. 4624