How to Find What You Want

What should I do first?

I.  Use a search tool such as NCHS Search or one of the many good internet search tools.  A word of caution when reviewing search results, not all search tools rank results by currency.  You may have to scan all retrieved results for the most current information.

I still can't find what I want.  What should I do next?

I.  Scan the homepage, paying close attention to What's New and the Top 10 Links.  These two areas of the homepage list new releases of data and the most popular pages on the NCHS Web site.

II.  Use the topical index format tools to assist you in locating information on the NCHS Web site.

FASTATS A to Z--Good for quick statistics on a variety of common health topics. Also has statistical information for all 50 States, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam.  Contains links to source materials.

Site Index--Topical listing of information that can be found on the Web site with links.

III.  Analyze the type of information you are looking for and scan the blue bar to the left on any NCHS web page to see if there is a link that might take you to the most likely area of the web site to find what you are looking for.  Listed below are some of the common interests that bring people to our web site.

Employment or General information about NCHS--About NCHS contains links to employment information, the NCHS mission, organizational structure and Legislative Authorities, driving instructions to the Hyattsville Facility, privacy and data release policies, quality guidelines, and information on site accessibility.

Pre-tabulated statistics on topic areas of interest--FASTATS contains links to ready statistics for all 50 States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam; most common health conditions; and other health-related topics of interest.  Also contains links within each topic to source materials and comprehensive data tables.

Information on  a specific Data Collection System and/or data from a specific Data Collection--Surveys and Data Collections Systems provides links to all NCHS surveys and data collection systems.  If you scroll your cursor over each of the acronyms listed on the blue bar, the full name of the data collection system will be displayed as well as any surveys that are part of that data collection system.  Each survey's homepage provides a description of the survey and links to that survey's most current data.

Looking for information on specific published products (reports, electronic products, web-only reports,  conference proceedings , down-loadable data files, working papers, and journal articles written by NCHS staff.)-- Publications and Information Products provides access to the listings of all published materials and released data files.

Looking for information on special programs that NCHS is involved with such as Healthy People, Aging, and Disease Classification--Initiatives provides access to information for not only initiatives but also collaborative efforts that NCHS participates in, resources for educators, extramural programs and committees, and data on welfare reform.

Looking for regular source of updates on specific survey data releases--Listservs provides a complete listing of NCHS listservs and how to sign up for them.  Also provides a link to all CDC-sponsored listservs.

Related Links:

Use your browser back button to return to NCHS

CDC Web Search
The CDC Web Search searches all CDC entities.

Search
The Fedstats engine searches 14 of these statistical sites, either individually or as groups.

This page last reviewed November 13, 2008