The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "cleaning data" ...
-
Git and Github: Learning to commit to version control
You need version control, and git is the answer. This class will introduce basic git commands and walk you through using the social coding site Github to store and organize your projects. It's ideal for anyone working on web development, scraping and scripting to gather or clean data. You should set up an account on Github before the class, and it's recommended, but not compulsory, that you be comfortable navigating the command line.
-
Newscamp: Data science for nerdy journalists
This edition of the "Journal of Statistical Software" looks at the elements that go into using datasets, including data cleaning and maniupulating adata.
Tags: Data journalism; data analysis; programming
-
Welcome to the world of data: Now what do you do?
Herzog gives great tips on what to do with your data once you have it, including how to get to know your data, how to clean it, how to keep it simple and where to look for story ideas (IRE's Resource Center, of course!).
Tags: data; resources; cleaning data; pivot tables
-
My Favorite (Excel) Things
This handout contains a variety of functions and tricks that can be used for cleaning and/or analyzing data in Excel. It covers: date functions; text or string functions; logical functions; and lots of other helpful tricks.
Tags: excel; computer-assisted reporting;
-
Steps in a CAR Story: From a Question to Data Analysis, Reporting and Writing
Ketterer breaks computer-assisted reporting into three stages: asking a question and obtaining the relevant data; cleaning and analyzing the data; writing and reporting the story. For each stage, Ketterer describes a detailed process of steps to keep you on track during the investigation.
Tags: newsroom management; reporting techniques; checklist; organization
-
Steps in a CAR Story: From a Question to Data Analysis, Reporting and Writing
Ketterer breaks computer-assisted reporting into three stages: asking a question and obtaining the relevant data; cleaning and analyzing the data; writing and reporting the story. For each stage, Ketterer describes a detailed process of steps to keep you on track during the investigation.
Tags: newsroom management; reporting techniques; checklist; organization
-
Building a Data-Driven Enterprise Machine
The author discusses how to maintain and organize databases in order to incorporate data seamlessly into a variety of beat and enterprise stories. The tipsheet includes suggestions about what databases to acquire, and how to prepare and clean the data so it is ready for immediate use.
Tags: databases; data editor; newsroom organization; beat reporting; enterprise
-
Essential Analysis: Data Integrity Checks
powerpoint presentation that reminds journalists what to check when they get data and shows how to look for dirty data using database managers or SPSS. also mentions extensive data documentation [and clean-up of dirty data] that IRE and NICAR include with the databases available from the Database library.
Tags: data; tables; documentary; file format; record layout; data dictionary; outliers; variations; dirty data; database manager; SPSS;
-
Welcome to the Real World: Importing, rearranging and cleaning data
Porter explains each step of cleaning data in Microsoft Access. He begins by explaining how to import delimited data. He also discusses how to split fields and parse data. Porter explains the query language for executing these commands.
Tags: SQL; Microsoft Access; database analysis; raw data
-
Center for public integrity policy data accuracy
Perry shares the Center for Public Integrity's procedures and policies for computer assisted reporting. It addresses data importation, cleaning, coding, updates and fact checking. It is an extensive explanation of CAR methods. Also included is a summary of the methods used for a story about lobbyists providing legislators with free travel.
Tags: CAR; computer assisted reporting; data; campaign finance; research