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The setup

Data doesn’t always arrive ready to analyze. A data journalist’s job often involves collecting data from multiple sources or transforming it from unwieldy formats to something more structured.

Module objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Identify situations where data is missing, incomplete or encumbered
  • Translate unstructured data from various sources to structured spreadsheet data
  • Weigh methodological choices for collecting data, given time and resource constraints
  • Design and implement systems for collecting data
  • Evaluate how methodological choices for collecting data can impact analysis

Module contents

  • Lecture
  • Group work
  • Class exercises
  • Class discussions

This module is designed to be taught over 1 to 2 class meetings.

Total suggested in-class time: 2 hours

What you’ll need for this module

  • An Internet connection and Web browser
  • A Google account and access to Google Sheets

The data

COVID Tracking Project Archive screenshots
Screenshots of all United States States and Territories COVID-19 information sources used by The COVID Tracking Project, for selected states for March 15, 2020, through mid-April, 2020.
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