Statistical sources on women: A critical evaluation

In a paper published in 1986, Helen B. Josephine and Deborah K. Blouin discuss four areas where new reference works in women's studies were needed: statistical sources, encyclopedias, yearbooks, and abstracting and indexing services. Using modified criteria outlined in Josephine's and Blouin's article, this article evaluates print statistical sources that specifically cover women and that were published in English during the 1990s. Evaluations discuss titles in terms of their inclusion of comparisons based on gender, age, race/ethnicity, and time period (historical) in both statistical material and indexing. Evaluations also mention the variety of sources cited, scope, and the presence or absence of introductory material, narrative highlights, bibliographies of sources, full citation for each statistic, and explanatory footnotes. Evaluation of the accuracy of the statistics themselves or the adequacy of statistical methodology is beyond the scope of this article.