Use market research to investigate industries, consumers and market trends. Use company information to investigate a particular organisation, its activities and reported performance.
Choose the route below for the evidence you need. Your task may require a combination of market reports, company documents and academic research.
If your module reading list links to a report or database, use that link.
For independent searching, identify the industry, product or consumer group, country and time period you need. Try these resources:
Use the Business Searching Interface to search business resources and browse company profiles, country reports, industry reports and SWOT analyses.
Use the Abertay access links for these resources. Coverage varies, so you may need more than one source.
LibrarySearch is useful for finding academic books and journal articles to support your analysis. For additional subject resources, see Business, Accounting and Marketing.
For other published figures, see Statistics. If you need data to analyse yourself, see Datasets.
Start with the company’s own website. Look for annual reports, financial statements and investor relations information. Search using the company name and the reporting year you need.
You can also try:
These sources contain information filed by companies. They serve a different purpose from independent research or analysis.
To identify companies by product, service or industry, try Europages or Kompass.
Use directory entries as starting points and confirm important details against the company’s website or official records.
Before using a report or figure, check:
For Statista figures, check the source and methodology information provided with the item.
A company’s annual report presents its own account of its activities and performance. Compare it with other evidence where your task requires independent analysis. When comparing companies or markets, check that the figures cover comparable periods and measures.
For fuller guidance, see Evaluate information.
Check your module or assessment guidance and use the referencing style it requires.
Record the details of the particular report, company document or statistic you use, including its title, creator, date and link.
Use Cite Them Right Online for citation and reference examples. Select your required referencing style and find the example matching the material you used, such as a company annual report, market research report or financial report from a database.
For wider guidance on referencing principles, when to cite and where to get help, see Referencing.
For help finding market research or company information, email library@abertay.ac.uk.
Tell us the company, industry or market you are researching, the country and period you need, and which resources you have already tried.
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