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 "collecting data" ...
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Winning your data negotiations
Tips on how to collect data and where to look for help.
Tags: data; databases; NICAR; IRE; computer assisted; research; collection
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Bullet Proof Your Data
How to find, organize and use your data that is collected during an investigation.
Tags: data; database; organization; creation; research
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Sweeping up Records: The sweep of public records for your beat or project
Cohen offers advice about how to acquire public records for new projects and beats. Her suggestions include touring the organizations you will be interacting with, asking for records before you need them and collecting forms that the agency uses to collect data. Overall, Cohen offers ten tips, and then lists types of data that are useful for different beats.
Tags: public records; freedom of information; FOI; state government; city government; newsroom management
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Setting up a data library and intranet
The authors explain the importance of a newsroom intranet, and what databases should be included in it. Finally, they discuss specific details about how to set one up.
Tags: data collection; data library; newsroom management; data analysis; public records; backgrounding
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Latest in scraping from Denmark
Mulvad explains how DICAR goes about "scraping the web" for information. He explains how certain software can be very helpful for collecting data off the internet so that reporters can analyze it later, and gives examples of data DICAR collects and analyzes. Mulvad also discusses the legal ramifications of web scraping.
Tags: internet research; clipping service; invisible web; data analysis; computer-assisted reporting; Robosuite
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Recapturing History
Gebeloff uses a PowerPoint Presentation to show how to use IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata), a website maintained by the University of Minnesota, to find trends. IPUMS uses data collected by the census but analyzes them in ways the official census has not published. He shows, for example, a table showing where self-employed Chinese who work in Manhattan live. This was not published by the Census.
Tags: U.S. Census; CAR; PUMS; IPUMS; data analysis; social trends; population trends.
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Creating Your Own Databases and Spreadsheets
This tipsheet explains how to custom-package the wealth of electronic information on a computer disk, when and when not to create your own database, advice on data collection and words of caution on running your results and interpreting them accurately. It also includes a look at how to create surveys further beyond the "man-on-the-street" Q & A.
Tags: CAR; computer-assisted reporting; database; spreadsheet; survey; broadcast
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A pattern of suspicion: Analyzing racial profiling data
Lehren gives a brief overview on how to get started in analyzing the data for a story on racial profiling, noting external and internal benchmarks to use for comparisons and pitfalls to avoid. He notes two studies that are of particular help to journalists and available free on the Internet.
Tags: racial profiling; CAR; computer-assisted reporting; race data; logistic regression
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Investigating Agriculture: Down on the Farm
Stapleton provides ways to identify federal agencies that oversee farming. She has tips on understanding the regulations and regulators. The tipsheet tells where data can be obtained regarding violations, fines, penalties and suspensions. Stapleton provides agricultural information on pesticides, comparative analysis, politics, and labor. The tipsheet has links to websites that have important agricultural data. Additionally, the tipsheet has a printout from the U.S. Department of Labor which tells what information this agency collects.
Tags: agriculture; farmer; pesticide inspector; U.S. Department of Labor; wage and labor disputes; Migrant and Seasonal Workers Protection Act; Farm labor; contracting; transportation; housing regulations; politics; Social Security Administration; Labor; disability; pesticides; EPA's Worker's Protection Standards; United Farm Workers; National Agriculture Workers Survey; Wage and Labor violation data; Census of Agriculture
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Sports Investigations
MaryJo Sylwester provides tips on how to make data collection an easier process. This tipsheet has ideas for high school and college sports stories. She also provides data sources regarding schools and athletes. The tipsheet also has links to recent sports stories using computer assisted reporting and/or investigative techniques.
Tags: database; high school sports; gender; athletic expenses; athletic revenues; coaches; teams; expense accounts; student fees; National Federation of State High School Associations; Office of Post-Secondary Education; Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act; NCAA