What happens if a particular industry group has a very small number of companies?

The smallest industry groups for which we present data contain 7 companies. However, this size is potentially less reliable and if you consider this comparison base to be too small, we suggest that you obtain a report for a less specific group within the same major industry group. This may mean switching from a 4-digit SIC code to the corresponding 3-digit SIC code. In fact, this is what we do automatically in our reports when presenting data for any industry segment (e.g., Small, or Year 2009, etc.) that has less than 7 companies.