Thanks to support from KEY, SFU's Big Data Initiative, SFU researchers now have access to a collection of practice datasets optimized for use in classroom exercises or in exam papers:  Sage Research Methods Datasets.

  

This collection of teaching datasets can be used to support the teaching and independent learning of quantitative and qualitative analytical methods common in the social sciences. These are datasets taken from real research projects, but edited and cleaned for teaching purposes -- saving you hours sourcing and cleaning...

<Read on for links to a few examples of the datasets available, and more!>

Sometimes you need the big picture of an industry before you can dive in for deeper research: a brief history of the industry's development; a description of its structure; or a list of key countries and companies... just enough to guide the next steps in your analysis.

For those purposes (and more!) SFU researchers should check out our new online access to the 6th edition (2017) of the Encyclopedia of Global Industries.  [...]

To get a sense of the value of the Encyclopedia of Global Industries check out these entries:

• Amusement Parks

<Read on for more entries, links to related titles, and more!>

Hey entrepreneurship students!  Did you know that you have online access to hundreds of real business plans from throughout North America via the SFU Library?  We've recently purchased a few more volumes in the online Business Plans Handbook series -- bringing us up to 40 volumes in total.

[...] check out this small selection of the types of companies covered in the newest volumes:

• Adult Day Care Center
• Axe Throwing Club
• Digital Marketing Agency

<Read on to get to BPs for whiskey distilleries, escape rooms, and more!>

I just received the latest usage report on our Statista database and thought I'd share some interesting trends: 

During the month of October, SFU researchers used Statista to:

• view almost 5000 charts, topic reports, dossiers... more than 160/day;
• download over 580 images, slides & documents; and 
• research topics ranging from... <Read on for more!>

I am very pleased to announce that SFU researchers now have access to the full collection of reports by BCC Research!

BCC Research reports offer: 

"... analysis of global market sizing, forecasting and industry intelligence, covering markets where advances in science and technology are improving the quality, standard and sustainability of businesses, economies and lives."

Categories covered range from Advanced Materials to Semiconductor Manufacturing, touching on topics as diverse as medical devices, quantum dots, geothermal energy... <Read on for more!>

I was just scanning some industry news about smart homes when I came across a mention of a Frost & Sullivan forecast in an article by ITEuropa: European Home Automation Set for Double Digit Growth.: [...]

Being an opportunist, how could I resist a quick plug for our recently acquired Frost & Sullivan database? Check out these recent and relevant reports on the same topic from F&S.

• Home Automation Poised to  ...
• Connected Homes—Supplier Strategies and ... 

<Read on for more!>

SFU researchers received a very early Christmas present on Sept. 25th... our powerful Passport database has a new home page!

I know what you're thinking: a new home page is no big deal, right? We'd all much rather get new content and put up with a slightly dated interface... no?  

Normally, I'd completely agree -- content is king! -- except ... <Read on for details!>

I'm very pleased to announce that SFU researchers now have access to market, industry, and strategy reports published by Frost & Sullivan!  

Frost & Sullivan reports cover a wide range of sectors, with a particular strength in emerging technologies... <Read on for many, many details!>

Our Vividata Target Snapshot database has new data and new functionality -- just in time for the busy fall semester!  

I'm still exploring it and discovering all the changes, but thought I'd pause to list what I've learned so far: 

Data: Data from the 2016 Q4 survey wave has been added. The data was gathered during the period of 06/30/2016 and 06/30/2017. Sadly, it appears that the older data has been supplanted. That's a pity as it is often useful to compare data across time periods.

Functionality: ... <Read on for the incredibly useful details...>