The user may just need to use an electronic book. Or have been misdirected when the statistics are best found in a book. The context of the research is also important. The size and complexity of a project need to match the user's capabilities as well as the time frame. Define the topic precisely enough to narrow the search.
Every project has a goal.
A topic to be addressed. A question to be answered. The user needs to define the topic sufficiently precisely to identify appropriate data, and may have done so already. This can help by showing what questions have been posed before, what questions can be readily answered, etc. But note that getting paper docs for ftp data can take two weeks, or more.