Research tip sheets: Lessons on online search techniques, reading studies, understanding data and methods
Curriculum overview with links to a variety of materials that help foster basic research competencies.
Tip Sheets
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Major administrative datasets of the U.S. government — all in one place
2014 list of data sources and tools from a range of federal agencies, courtesy of Katherine R. Smith, executive director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics.
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Dataset digest: From Data.gov to Chartbuilder, a lesson with organic farm data
With a growing number of public datasets and data-visualization tools available, we provide a simple exercise in how to create a time-series graph using Quartz’s Chartbuilder application.
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Dataset digest: Open data, tools and resources that can help fuel your stories
Running list of useful datasets that can help drive stories as well as best practices, interviews with leading journalists and primers for journalists and students to sharpen their skills.
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Making federal data more useful and accessible to fuel media and democracy
2014 report from Journalist’s Resource suggeting improvements to the Federal Statistical Agency websites and offering recommendations on how the agencies could better help news media.
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Journalism-school reform in the context of wider media trends
With the continued funding of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education, John Wihbey of Journalist’s Resource reflects on the initiative in the context of wider media trends.
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Key data- and research-oriented government agencies that media members should know about
2014 overview of U.S. government offices and agencies that produce publically available data and reports and the tools they provide for accessing research.
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Regression analysis: A quick primer for media on a fundamental form of data crunching
From studies on the relationship between wages and well being to the financial benefits of political incumbency, scientific research frequently involves the technique of regression. We explain the basics.
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A scarce commodity: Trustworthy and relevant information
Thomas Patterson of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center explores why misinformation is on the rise and what can be done about it. Part of the foundation series of essays for the launch of the U.S. edition of The Conversation website.
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Fall 2014 highlights at the Shorenstein Center: Charles M. Blow, Miriam Elder and more
Fall 2014 highlights from talks by journalists and media thinkers, including Charles M. Blow, Miriam Elder, Hendrik Hertzberg, Robin Sproul, Amy Walter and Charles Lewis.
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