Professional Skills: Data Storytelling – 33310 – JOUR 4401 – A

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 Professional Skills: Data Storytelling  – 33310- JOUR 4401 – A
School of Journalism and Communication
Fall 2019

Day: Wednesday
Time: 19:00-22:00

Location: Room 1105 Richcraft Hall (the TV Newsroom)
Instructor: David McKie
Work Address:  CBC News
181 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario

Phone Number: 1-613-288-6523 (office) 1-613-290-7380 (cell)
Email: david.mckie@cbc.ca

Teaching Assistant:
JacobDanovitch@cmail.carleton.ca

Joel Rivard & Meaghan Kenny
GIS and Digital Resources Librarians
Research Support Services
Carleton University Library
613-520-2600 x 1615
gis@carleton.ca.

Roger Martin
IT Coordinator
Roger.Martin@carleton.ca
613-520-2600, ext. 7407

Data journalism stories |  What you will learn |    Needs and Special Accommodations  | Assignments and deadlines |  Week one | Week two | Week three | Week four | Week five | Week six |Week seven | Week eight | Week nine | Week ten | Week eleven | Week twelve | Week thirteen | Assignment One | Assignment One |Assignment Two| Assignment Three |Readings | Additional Reading |Tutorials | Datasets | Additional Resources

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The goal of the Data Journalism Storytelling course is to teach students how to find and negotiate for data that is publicly available, or must be obtained formally or informally through a federal access-to-information, or provincial or municipal freedom-of-information request. We will analyse the records using the following: Excel; MySQL;  DocumentCloud; Qgis; and ArcGISOnline;

Taken together, these tools are packaged into a discipline called data journalism. Our textbook is The Data Journalist: Getting the Story., which is available at the Carleton bookstore. 

At the end of this term, you will become adept at searching for information, perusing and downloading files from government open-data websites, recognizing patterns in data, analyzing the material for story ideas, or for questions that could lead to stories or  background information for interviews.

As the course’s name suggests, there will be a heavy emphasis on storytelling, using words, maps, charts, video and sound. As such, we will emphasize stories that have appeared in the news, either as examples of how data journalism was used, or how it could or should have been used. These discussions and in-class exercises will help you develop new analytical and storytelling skills. Specially designed tutorials based on data used in this class, and tutorials from The Data Journalist will be used to hone your newly-learned skills.

The course will be comprised of three modules: spreadsheets (Excel); mapping (Qgis and ArcGIS Online) and database managers (MySQL) and web scraping.

There will be three assignments ( please see chart below ). At the end of each segment, there will be an in-class tests worth five percent.

This is a professional school, and you’ll be held to professional standards in both assignments and conduct. As a student of journalism, you must read and adhere to the school’s policies:

  1. Our ethics policy sets out the rules of behaviour that you, as students and journalists, are expected to follow as you carry out your assignments for this course.
  2. Our publishing policy requires certain authorizations before journalistic coursework can be published outside of the class. In addition, your sources must understand that any assignments they are associated with may be published outside of class.
  3. Our policy on electronic media usage requires that you follow copyright regulations with respect to your use of all materials culled from the Internet.

Undergraduates can find all three policies on this page https://carleton.ca/sjc/journalism/undergraduate-studies/resources-current-undergraduate-students/

Graduates can find all three policies here https://carleton.ca/sjc/journalism/graduate-studies/resources-current-students/

You are expected to be familiar with these policies and apply them to your work. Failure to abide by them will adversely affect your standing in the course.

Requests for Academic Accommodation (TOP)

You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For an accommodation request, the processes are as follows:

Pregnancy obligation
Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details, visit the Equity Services website: carleton.ca/equity/wp-content/uploads/Student-Guide-to-Academic-Accommodation.pdf

Religious obligation
Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details, visit the Equity Services website: carleton.ca/equity/wp-content/uploads/Student-Guide-to-Academic-Accommodation.pdf

Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
If you have a documented disability requiring academic accommodations in this course, please contact the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities  at 613-520-6608 or pmc@carleton.ca for a formal evaluation or contact your centre coordinator to send your instructor your letter of accommodation at the beginning of the term. You must also contact the Paul Menton Centre no later than two weeks before the first in-class scheduled test or exam requiring accommodation (if applicable). After requesting accommodation, meet with your instructor as soon as possible to ensure accommodation arrangements are made.

Survivors of Sexual Violence
As a community, Carleton University is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working and living environment where sexual violence will not be tolerated. Survivors are supported through academic accommodations as per Carleton’s Sexual Violence Policy. For more information about the services available at the university and to obtain information about sexual violence and/or support, visit: carleton.ca/sexual-violence-support

Accommodation for Student Activities
Carleton University recognizes the substantial benefits, both to the individual student and for the university, that result from a student participating in activities beyond the classroom experience. Reasonable accommodation must be provided to students who compete or perform at the national or international level. Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. https://carleton.ca/senate/wp-content/uploads/Accommodation-for-Student-Activities-1.pdf

If you are an international or exchange student and need help in areas such as proofreading, please feel free to contact the International Student Services Office.

For more information on academic accommodation, please contact the departmental administrator or visit: students.carleton.ca/course-outline

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN (TOP)

1) How to use federal, provincial and municipal open-data web portals

2) How to analyze statistics using a spreadsheet

3) How to create a pivot table

4) How to use advanced functions in Excel

5) How to use technical skills such as exporting tables from PDFs into Excel

6) How to use MySQL

7) How to advance your numeracy skills

8) How to use Tableau Public

9) How to use Qgis , ArcGIS Online, and OpenStreetMap

10) How to use APIs and learn about web scraping with Python

11) How to become effective storytellers

Assignments and Deadlines (TOP)

Assignments in this course are governed by the provisions of the document Ethics and Standards in the School of Journalism and Communication. There are three assignments, each with a deadline. Lateness will be penalized with the deduction of a half a grade for every day the story is overdue, though exceptional circumstances will be taken into account. Assignments will be graded and returned with feedback within two weeks of submission.

Questions or appeals about your grade on assignments or other graded components of the course should be raised with the instructor no later than seven business days after the grade has been issued, as explained in the university’s academic regulations (2.7 and 2.8). Your final course grade is based on grades earned throughout the term on the assignments and other graded components listed in the syllabus. This means requests to raise an overall course grade at the end of the term or year cannot be considered.

Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by an instructor may be subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the Dean.

There is no final examination. Each assignment has two components, all of which will figure in the grade:

A. A description of how the documents and data were obtained, why they were useful and how the material was analyzed

B. The resulting story

Academic Integrity

This course abides by Carleton University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not restricted to, plagiarism and unauthorized resubmission of work, and will be dealt with accordingly. Plagiarism is a serious offence, which cannot be resolved directly between the student and the course instructor. If an academic offence is suspected, it will be referred to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs. The Associate Dean of the Faculty will conduct a rigorous investigation, including an interview with the student, when an instructor suspects a piece of work has been plagiarized. Penalties are not trivial. They can include a final grade of “F” for the course.

  • Do not, under any circumstances, present someone else’s work as your own.
  • Do not download and/or copy any files, stories, photos, audio or video you find online or elsewhere and use them as your own.
  • Do not fabricate sources of information.
  • Do not invent facts.

For undergraduates: Undergraduate Calendar section 12.0 Academic Integrity http://calendar.carleton.ca/undergrad/regulations/academicregulationsoftheuniversity/ or http://carleton.ca/senate/wp-content/uploads/Academic-Integrity-Policy1.pdf

For graduates: General Regulations, Section 19, of the Graduate Calendar http://calendar.carleton.ca/grad/gradregulations/

Assignments

Percent

Assignment#1: A story using numbers crunched in Excel. Deadline: Midnight Sept. 29 15%
Assignment #2: Mapping assignment. Deadline: Midnight Nov. 3 25%
Assignment #3: A story using data analysed using MySQL. Deadline: Midnight Dec 6 35%
Three in-class tests. 15%
Participation/professional conduct: For punctuality, informative in-class participation and professionalism displayed by actions such as prompt responses to emailed messages, and the prompt following up after emailed instructions regarding the use of certain software. 10%

GRADES

A+       90-100             A         85-89               A-        80-84

 B+       77-79              B         73-76               B-        70-72

 C+       67-69              C         63-66               C-        60-62

 D+       57-59              D         53-56               D-        50-52

For undergraduates: The passing grade for this course is a grade of C

Questions or appeals about your grade on assignments or other graded components of the course should be raised with the instructor no later than seven business days after the grade has been issued, as explained in the university’s undergraduate calendar.  Your final course grade is based on grades earned throughout the term on the assignments and other graded components listed in the syllabus. This means requests to raise an overall course grade at the end of the term or year cannot be considered.

Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by an instructor may be subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the Dean.

*******

For graduates: The passing grade for this course is a grade of B minus

Informal questions or appeals about your grade on assignments or other graded components of the course should be raised with the instructor no later than seven business days after the grade has been issued.

For information about the formal Grade Review process, please see the Graduate Regulations: http://calendar.carleton.ca/grad/gradregulations/administrationoftheregulations/#15

Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by an instructor may be subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the Dean.

Ethics and Professional Standards
This is a professional school, and you’ll be held to professional standards in both assignments and conduct. As a student of journalism, you must read and adhere to the school’s policies.

  1. Our ethics policy sets out the rules of behaviour that you, as students and journalists, are expected to follow as you carry out your assignments for this course. One of the rules, for example, makes clear that you must not interview relatives or friends for your story, except in rare and special circumstances and with the advance permission of the instructor.
  2. Our publishing policy requires certain authorizations before journalistic coursework can be published outside of the class. In addition, your sources must understand that any assignments they are associated with may be published outside of class.
  3. Our policy on electronic media usage requires that you follow copyright regulations with respect to your use of all materials culled from the Internet. For example, you cannot use any pictures you find online in your assignments unless you get written permission from the copyright holder to use them and submit it to the instructor.

Undergraduates can find all three policies on this page https://carleton.ca/sjc/journalism/undergraduate-studies/resources-current-undergraduate-students/

Graduates can find all three policies here https://carleton.ca/sjc/journalism/graduate-studies/resources-current-students/

You are expected to be familiar with these policies and apply them to your work. Failure to abide by them will adversely affect your standing in the course.

Academic Advice

For undergraduates: If you have questions about the journalism program, degree requirements, your standing in the program or your academic audit, you should contact your Undergraduate Administrator Joan Thompson at Joan.Thompson@carleton.ca or Undergraduate Supervisor Randy Boswell at Randy.Boswell@carleton.ca

For graduates: If you have questions about the journalism program, degree requirements, your standing in the program or your academic audit, you should contact your Graduate Administrator Jena Lynde-Smith at JenaLyndesmith@cunet.carleton.ca or Graduate Supervisor Janice Tibbetts at Janice.Tibbetts@carleton.ca

COMMUNICATIONS WITH STUDENTS

This will be done primarily through email correspondence and phone calls, given that I do not have an office at Carleton University. The protocol will dictate that emailed queries will be answered as promptly as possible, if possible within the hour. As such, it will be important for you to regularly check your email account for updates regarding assignments, new datasets or class work. You’ll also be required to use your Carleton University account, not a second account such as gmail.

PROFESSIONALISM

We’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists. That means attending class, showing up on time; being prepared and ready to make a meaningful contribution based on the preparation work you’ve been assigned; paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring email correspondence, Facebook, text messages, Twitter, Instagram, and promptly responding to emails from the instructor. You’ll also be expected to stay on top of current events, which is part of your obligation as a journalist.

If your absence is due to a medical reason, you may be required to provide a doctor’s note. If it’s for an internship, then you’ll have to provide details. You are expected to attend ALL classes. If personal reasons prevent you from attending a specific class, please let me know in advance via email.

REQUIRED SUPPORT RESOURCES

The course would be taught in the TV computer lab, using the overhead projector. As the school possesses an ArcMap licence, we are be able to use the mapping software, which is installed on the desktops. We also use the open-source software, Qgis. The library’s Maps, Research Support Services is well positioned to provide support to faculties including journalism and communications.

Data Journalism Stories (TOP)

Examples stories using data journalism

Set up to fail: Why women still don’t win elections as often as men in Canada
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2019/elections-federales/femmes-hommes-probabilites-vote-egalite-chateaux-forts/index-en.html

International buyers eye N.S. vacation properties — especially in Cape Breton
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/foreign-property-statistics-canada-cape-breton-properties-1.5213540

Calgary has 1,200 playground zones. Most speeding tickets are issued in just these 10 spots
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-playground-zones-top-10-ticket-locations-1.5130180

Streetcars account for half of deadly TTC collisions with pedestrians, cyclists
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/25/streetcars-account-for-half-of-deadly-ttc-collisions-with-pedestrians-cyclists.html

As #NearMissToronto picks up steam with cyclists and pedestrians on Twitter, we map your tweets of near death
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/07/17/as-nearmisstoronto-picks-up-steam-with-cyclists-and-pedestrians-on-twitter-we-map-some-of-their-tweets-of-near-death.html

Sex offences against minors: Investigation reveals more than 200 Canadian coaches convicted in last 20 years
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur-sports-coaches-sexual-offences-minors-1.5006609

MAPPING THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY
https://www.project44.ca/

 CAJ Data Journalism finalists

Unfounded (The Globe and Mail)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/unfounded-sexual-assault-canada-main/article33891309/

Easy Money: How Fraudsters can make millions off Canadian investors, get barely punished and do it again (The Globe and Mail)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/easy-money-canadian-securities-fraud/article37350705/

Ottawa nursing homes have seen at least 163 cases of abuse since 2012 (Ottawa-Citizen)
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/more-than-2000-cases-of-non-compliance-and-163-cases-of-abuse-at-ottawa-long-term-care-homes

Big corporate donors give big to the B.C. Liberals (Vancouver Sun)
http://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/big-corporate-donors-give-big-to-the-b-c-liberals

In search of Canada’s elusive shadow population (Discourse Media)
https://www.thediscourse.ca/data/canadas-shadow-population

2017 Philip Meyer Award winners

Dangerous Doses (Chicago Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/druginteractions/

Too Broke for Bankruptcy
https://www.propublica.org/series/too-broke-for-bankruptcy

No Place for Foreigners: Why Hanna is invited to view an apartment and Ismail is not
https://www.hanna-und-ismail.de/english/index.html

Data Journalism Awards 2018 Winners

The Startup Lisboa award for investigation of the year: Easy Money: How Fraudsters can make millions off Canadian investors, get barely punished and do it again (The Globe and Mail)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/easy-money-canadian-securities-fraud/article37350705/

Open Data: Who backs Canada’s Politicians (National Post)
http://special.nationalpost.com/follow-the-money/database

http://www.postmedia.com/2018/03/20/political-donations-database-allows-canadians-to-follow-the-money/

Data Journalism Awards 2018 Shortlist

Is anything left of Mosul? (BBC News)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-9d41ef6c-97c9-4953-ba43-284cc62ffdd0

In 558 days, President Trump has made 4,229  false or misleading claims (The Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?utm_term=.204623ba5205

Student Examples

The Halifax Explosion killed nearly 2,000 people. (Global News & Kings Journalism) 
https://globalnews.ca/news/3870656/interactive-map-halifax-explosion/
https://ukings.ca/news/journalism-students-create-multi-media-retelling-of-the-halifax-explosion/

The Ryerson School of Journalism, in partnership with The Toronto Star
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/02/16/how-a-broken-jury-list-makes-ontario-justice-whiter-richer-and-less-like-your-community.html

Pollution from Canadian refineries an ’embarrassment’ compared with U.S.
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/05/02/pollution-from-canadian-refineries-an-embarrassment-compared-to-us.html

General Investigations

Medical Disorder, parts one and two (Toronto Star)
http://projects.thestar.com/doctor-discipline/

http://projects.thestar.com/doctor-discipline/part-2/index.html

http://projects.thestar.com/doctor-discipline/part-3/index.html

People have a right to ‘as much transparency as possible’ when it comes to doctors’ pasts, health minister says
https://www.thestar.com/news/medical-disorder/2018/05/03/people-have-a-right-to-as-much-transparency-as-possible-when-it-comes-to-doctors-pasts-health-minster-says.html

Rachel Browne (Vice News)
https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article/d35eyq/black-and-indigenous-people-are-overrepresented-in-canadas-weed-arrests

Jacques Marcoux and Katie Nicholson (CBC Manitoba)
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-custom/deadly-force

Nael Shiab (L’Actualité)
http://lactualite.com/societe/2017/06/28/un-canada-sans-immigrants/

http://lactualite.com/societe/2018/01/23/philippe-couillard-vous-fait-il-perdre-ou-economiser-de-largent-notre-robot-journaliste-repond-a-vos-questions/

Canada’s Highest Paid CEO’s (The Globe and Mail)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/executive-compensation/table-canadas-top-100-highest-paid-ceos/article30131636/?from=30171589

To gain access to a running, up-to-date list of the latest data journalism stories, please click here.

Census-related stories

Report reveals alarming — and growing — racialized income divide in GTA
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/05/06/report-reveals-alarming-and-growing-racialized-income-divide-in-gta.html

Could devastate Rohingya camps
http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/MYANMAR-ROHINGYA/010062VK4VN/index.html?utm_source=The+Den+Bulletin&utm_campaign=ac556dbf53-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_05_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_01a9377b12-ac556dbf53-149972721

Walmart: Thousands of police calls. You paid the bill.
http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2016/public-safety/walmart-police

Is Canada ‘ripping us off’? Or is it the best U.S. trade partner?https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/business/us-canada-trade-balance/?utm_term=.5d06e66050de

Stories about data journalism

Can digital government produce usable and useful data for non-expert users? Canada’s National Energy Board faced the challenge with data visualization
http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2019/data-visualization-government-can-empower-dialogue/

OUTLINE

Week One(TOP)

Sept. 4

What we will cover:

Introduction to the course

Begin the process of installing needed software (Excel, MySQL, QGIS, ArcGIS Online, Tableau)

A discussion about open data

Making an informal access-to-information request for a federal dataset

An introduction to Statistics Canada tables and Elections Canada data

Filtering and sorting

LINKS:

Informal Access to Information requests

StatCan release schedules

Statistics Canada’s data tables

Alberta squeaks out title as Canada’s top cannabis market with $123.6M sold

Retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)

Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, monthly (x 1,000,000)

Statistics Canada’s incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations data

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017 Version 3.0

Gross Domestic Product by Industry – National (Monthly) (GDP)

42nd General Election: Official Voting Results

Elections Canada

Facebook Political Ad Collector

Facebook Ad Library

Facebook Ad Library Report

Facebook Allowed Political Ads That Were Actually Scams and Malware

What We Learned From Collecting 100,000 Targeted Facebook Ads

Journalists Are Criticizing Facebook For Its Data Collection. At The Same Time, They Often Use It To Their Advantage

Week Two(TOP)

Sept. 11

WHAT WE WILL COVER

A continuation with Statistics Canada data tables

A continuation of working with Facebook data

An introduction to government open-data sites

Using ratios and numeracy fundamentals

Downloading a table from an open data site and sorting and filtering

Creating pivot tables using federal political donations data collected by Elections Canada

Links

It’s official, Canadians: the 2019 federal election campaign is underway

Dozens of MPs’ websites can track visitors for targeted campaign ads

Elections Canada – federal election

Elections Canada – political financing

Want to know which political parties are targeting you on Facebook?

Tracking Every Presidential Candidate’s TV Ad Buys

Week Three(TOP)

Sept. 18

WHAT WE WILL COVER

A continuation of pivot tables

An introduction to specialized functions used to analyze data

Calculating percentage increases and percentages of totals using Elections Canada data

LINKS:

Tories best Liberals with record $8.5-million in second-quarter fundraising

Elections Canada – political financing

42nd General Election: Official Voting Results

Income of individuals by age group, sex and income source, Canada, provinces and selected census metropolitan areas

Canadian income tax rates for individuals – current and previous years

Week Four(TOP)

Sept. 25

WHAT WE WILL COVER

Continuation specialized functions

Strategies for negotiating for more detailed sets than the ones posted on
government open-date sites

Using DocumentCloud

LINKS:

Tableau Public 

Open Data Portals

Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Plans
https://ottawa.ca/en/routine-disclosure-and-active-dissemination-plans#

Bike Ottawa Interactive Maps
https://maps.bikeottawa.ca/

Ottawa collisions mapped
https://maps.bikeottawa.ca/collisions/

Annual safety reports (City of Ottawa)
https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/road-safety/annual-safety-reports#2017-fatal-collision-breakdown

City of Ottawa Transportation Collision Data
http://data.ottawa.ca/dataset?q=transportation+collision+data

2018 Tabular Transportation Collision Data – 2017_collisions_xlsx (City of Ottawa)
http://data.ottawa.ca/dataset/collisiondata2018

Ottawa’s Strategic Road Safety Action Plan
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4896107-02-Safe-Roads-Document-1-Action-Plan-English.html

Ottawa Collision Data – MacOdrum Library
https://library.carleton.ca/find/gis/geospatial-data/ottawa-collision-data

Liberals step up attacks with 2 weeks left, but Conservative campaign most negative, data shows

ONLINE POLITICAL: TRANSPARENCY PROJECT

A Buffalo website is publishing ‘false’ viral stories about Justin Trudeau — and there’s nothing Canada can do about it

Week Five(TOP)

Oct. 2

WHAT WE WILL COVER

Excel test

LINKS

Population estimates on July 1st, by age and sex

Census Program
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm

Census Reference Materials
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/index-eng.cfm

Dictionary, Census of Population, 2016: Complete A to Z index
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/dict/az1-eng.cfm#C

Census Profile, 2016 Census
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

2016 Census – Boundary files
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/geo/bound-limit/bound-limit-2016-eng.cfm

Reference materials, 2016 Census
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/index-eng.cfm

Download, Census Profile, 2016 Census
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/download-telecharger/comp/page_dl-tc.cfm?Lang=E

42nd General Election: Official Voting Results (Table 11: Voting results by electoral district)

Elections Canada

2011 Census Profile – Comprehensive download files for a selected geographic level: CSV or TAB
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/download-telecharger/comprehensive/comp-csv-tab-dwnld-tlchrgr.cfm?Lang=E

2011 NHS Profile – Download NHS data for a complete geographic level: CSV or TAB
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/download-telecharger/comprehensive/comp-csv-tab-nhs-enm.cfm?Lang=E

Incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/dq-qd/iir-rii-eng.cfm

A majority of Torontonians now identify themselves as visible minorities
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/25/a-majority-of-torontonians-now-identify-themselves-as-visible-minorities-census-shows.html

Municipal Wards (Toronto’s open-data catelogue)
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/open-data/open-data-catalogue/#29b6fadf-0bd6-2af9-4a8c-8c41da285ad7

Canadian Postal Codes: GeoCoder
https://fusiontables.google.com/DataSource?docid=1H_cl-oyeG4FDwqJUTeI_aGKmmkJdPDzRNccp96M&hl=en_US&pli=1

Hierarchy of standard geographic areas for dissemination, 2016 Census
http://geosuite.statcan.gc.ca/geosuite/en/index

GeoSearch – search geography by  name or code
http://geosuite.statcan.gc.ca/geosuite/en/index

GeoSearch (Statistics Canada’s geographic gateway)
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/geo/geosearch-georecherche/index-eng.cfm

Guide to the Census of Population, 2016
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/98-304/index-eng.cfm

A continuation of mapping and an introduction to Statistics Canada’s latest census release —
Immigration and ethnocultural diversity 

Crowdmapping as a new data source for journalists
http://datadrivenjournalism.net/news_and_analysis/crowdmapping_as_a_new_data_source_for_journalists

OpenStreetMap
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/45.41807/-75.68215

Incidents At NEB-Regulated Pipelines And Facilities

Access data from the National Pollutant Release Inventory

Federal Contaminated Sites

42nd General Election: Official Voting Results

Week Six(TOP)

Oct. 9

WHAT WE WILL COVER

A continuation working with census data

An introduction to OpenStreetMap

Counting points in polygons

A look-ahead to the assignment

LINKS:

Toronto is segregated by race and income. And the numbers are ugly

Welcome to the Canadian Rental Housing Index
http://www.rentalhousingindex.ca/en/#intro

2016 Census Program release schedule
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/ref/release-dates-diffusion-eng.cfm

2016 Census Ward Data – 2016 Census by Wards
http://data.ottawa.ca/en/dataset/2016-census-ward-data/resource/75bf4c3d-8726-43a0-bd0c-ea8ee7128b6e

Statistics Canada’s Crowdsourcing Program Using OpenStreetMap
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/crowdsourcing

City of Ottawa address points
http://data.ottawa.ca/dataset?q=address+points&sort=score+desc%2C+metadata_modified+desc

Week Seven(TOP)

Oct. 16

WHAT WE WILL COVER

A continuation of work with census data and Qgis

Links:

Why even Toronto advocates calling for a handgun ban say the federal debate on gun violence has missed the point

Microsoft open sources SandDance, a visual data exploration tool

338Canada.com – Poll Analysis and Electoral Projections

New census counts 25,502 unoccupied homes in Vancouver, for 15 per cent jump over 2011
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/census-counts-25502-unoccupied-homes-in-vancouver-more-than-double-the-estimate-by-city-hall

Here’s Where Metro Vancouver’s 66,719 Unoccupied Homes Are [Interactive]
https://betterdwelling.com/city/vancouver/heres-metro-vancouvers-66719-unoccupied-homes-interactive/

Toronto Has Over 99,000 Unoccupied Homes, Here’s Where They Are [Interactive]
https://betterdwelling.com/city/toronto/toronto-has-over-99000-unoccupied-homes-heres-where-they-are-interactive/

About Better Dwelling
https://betterdwelling.com/about/

Map of inadequate housing in Ottawa using ArcGIS Online
http://www.davidmckie.com/category/digi-1examples/

infopigeonofficial
https://www.instagram.com/infopigeonofficial/?hl=en

Week Eight (TOP(Fall break)
Oct. 23

Have a good break!!

Week Nine (TOP

Oct. 30

What we will cover

ArcGIS Online
A continuation of joining files in QGIS

WHAT WE WILL COVER

LINKS:

Links:

How would proportional representation have shaped this election’s results?

Bloc benefited from Liberal-Conservative splits

Canada Votes (CBC)

Federal election 2019: This is what the House of Commons will look like

People’s Party may have cost the Tories 6 ridings on election night

Upstart People’s Party had little impact on election results: Analysis

Parliamentarians

Federal ridings with the highest visible minority populations

Week Ten(TOP)

Nov. 6

WHAT WE WILL COVER

A mapping test

Introduction to scraping

A discussion of relational databases

Links:

Mapping test questions.pdf

Mapping test data and shape files.zip

Scraping Lobbyist Registries

Is there lead in your tap water? Canada-wide investigation exposes dangerous levels of toxic metal

Children in schools and daycares across Canada are exposed to unsafe water

Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada
https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/h_00000.html

Lobbyists ( British Columbia)
http://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/

Lobbyists (Alberta)
http://www.lobbyistsact.ab.ca/LRS/Search.nsf/$$Search

Lobbyists (Saskatchewan)
https://www.sasklobbyistregistry.ca/

Lobbyists (Manitoba)
https://registry.lobbyistregistrar.mb.ca/lra/reporting/public/registrySearch.do?method=init

Lobbyists (Ontario)
http://www.oico.on.ca/home/lobbyists-registration

Lobbyists (Quebec)
https://www.lobby.gouv.qc.ca/servicespublic/consultation/ConsultationCitoyen.aspx

Lobbying (New Brunswick)
https://www.pxw1.snb.ca/snb9000/product.aspx?productid=A001PSNBCATLOBBY&l=e

Lobbyists (Nova Scotia)
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/lobbyist/

Lobbyists (Newfoundland and Labrador)
http://www.gs.gov.nl.ca/registries/lobbyists.html

Lobbyists ( Prince Edward Island)
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/feature/lobbyist-registry#/

Office of the Lobbyist Registrar of Toronto
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accountability-operations-customer-service/accountability-officers/lobbyist-registrar/

Toronto Lobbyists Registry – Toronto Open Data Catalogue
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/open-data/open-data-catalogue/#94202791-cb02-4a98-4b1f-0f301b6f89d3

To download the active Toronto lobbyist registry data, please click here.

Week Eleven(TOP)

Nov. 13

WHAT WE WILL COVER:

Introduction to MySQL

LINKS:

Crying Out For Care
CBC Marketplace
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/long-term-care-marketplace-1.4501795

Racial Profiling at Canada Border Services
CTV National News
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/air-travellers-from-middle-east-africa-caribbean-more-likely-to-face-secondary-inspection-cbsa-data-1.3952908

Federal Liberals violated own fundraising rules
The Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-lobbyists-still-attending-liberal-fundraisers-despite-promised-reform/

CBC News’s joint investigation into the sometimes murky world of medical devices
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/implant-files-investigation-medical-devices-1.4924384

New app provides food establishment health inspection reports
https://globalnews.ca/news/4849706/tomati-food-establishment-health-report-app/

City of Ottawa Public Health Inspection Tables

City of Ottawa – Employee Directory

Service Ottawa – Service Request Centre

By-laws – City of Ottawa

Follow the Money – political donations
http://special.nationalpost.com/follow-the-money/feature

WHO BACKS CANADA’S POLITICIANS? FOLLOW THE MONEY HERE
http://special.nationalpost.com/follow-the-money/database

Corporations fuelled Ontario Proud’s pro-PC election spending
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-proud-election-advertising-spending-1.4941210

EmEditor
https://www.emeditor.com/

UltraEdit
https://www.ultraedit.com/

Notepad++
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

TextWrangler
https://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

City of Ottawa Transportation Collision Data
http://data.ottawa.ca/dataset?q=transportation+collision+data

Week Twelve(TOP)

Nov. 20

WHAT WE WILL COVER

Review of linking tables in MySQL

Working with City of Ottawa parking-ticket data

LINKS:

Ottawa restaurants
https://ottawamagazine.com/

City parking tickets big business for private companies
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/businesses-institutions-profit-from-ottawa-parking-tickets-1.4791938

Parking hotspots (CTV News)
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=620093

This fire hydrant costs Toronto drivers the most in parking tickets (The Canadian Press)
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/11/this_fire_hydrant_costs_toronto_drivers_the_most_in_parking_tickets.html

Week Thirteen(TOP)

Nov. 27

WHAT WE WILL COVER

Creating tables and importing files into MySQL

LINKS:

MySQL test questions.pdf

Ottawa wards

Go Back in Time

Nail salon map

Assignment One(TOP)

Qs AND As:

What is the due date?  Midnight Sept. 29

What do I submit?

  1. A 600-word story using a dataset discussed in class, or that you find on any federal, provincial or municipal open-data portal related to the issues that will be discussed in the federal election.  It needs to be uploaded to the CarletonDataJournalism_2019 on the our WordPress site, and kept in draft form until you receive permission to  publish.
  2.  A 500-word explanation in an emailed Word document of how you researched the story, including original documents, data and sources, complete with their phone numbers, email addresses and Twitter accounts.
  3. An emailed Excel workbook with the original table and worksheets containing subsets of your data?
  4. The actual story also emailed in a Word document.

Should I check with you before using the data? Only if it’s one discussed outside of class.

How should I analyze the data? Using the techniques that we’ve studied so far (filtering, sorting, percentage increases, pivot tables)

What am I looking for in the story? A well-told election-related yarn, with a sharp, crisp lead that makes the audience want to keep reading. Avoid using too many numbers. Think about the most important numbers, and concentrate on them. As writing coach Don Gibb once remarked, choose a number as carefully as you choose a quote. All your specific references (to studies, events, news conferences, etc.)  MUST be hyperlinked to the ORIGINAL source. For instance, if you are referring to a study that states a certain fact, then there should be a hyperlinked reference to the primary record. What I want to see is evidence of solid research. DO NOT LINK TO NEWS REPORTS THAT SIMPLY REFER TO THE STUDY IN QUESTION.

Should the story emerge from the data? Yes. Don’t make an assumption, and then use a dataset to try to test it. Have faith that you’ll be able to find newsworthy patterns in your dataset by using the techniques that we’ve learned. If there are no patterns, then perhaps  you should keep looking for a new dataset.

Should the story have any interviews? We have changed it to be one interview with an expert. So get the data work completed early enough to allow for enough time to find the right characters for your story. You have plenty of time to complete the assignments, so finding the right characters should be feasible.

Should the story contain platforms of the political parties relevant to your story? Absolutely

When referring to the platform promise or a position the party has taken on the issue, should I hyperlink to the party’s original record, be it a news release, or campaign document? Yes

What if I’m unable to interview a candidate or party official? Then substitute an interview with a position the party has taken publicly in the type of  original record described above, and make it clear to the reader that you were unable to secure an interview.

Should one of the interviewees be an expert? Yes. For a story about crime, it could be a knowledgeable police officer, a criminologist , lawyer, trade expert or professor. For a story about campaign ads on Facebook, it could be a marketing professor. The expert MUST not be an advocate, political operative or lobbyist. Seek out credible, non-partisan voices to provide context.

Will I lose marks for having only one interview? Yes, half a grade.

Should I have any visualizations? Absolutely. We’ll explore visualizations more in-depth as the term progresses. For this assignment, there should be at least two, including a picture of the subject of your story. Infogr.am with  its shallow learning curve might be the easiest option for this story. You will also be introduced to Tableau Public.

Will I lose marks for neglecting to submit visualizations, or at least the minimum number of them? Yes,  half a grade.

Will I lose marks for failing to reach or exceeding the word limit? It’s not a big deal if you’re 20 or so words over or under the limit. However, anything longer than 650 is too long and should be trimmed. Anything less than 550 is too short.

Can I submit a draft? Yes. However, because this is a large class, I will accept ONLY ONE per student, and will only accept  drafts up to  48 hours BEFORE the due date. Remember, a draft can be point form, or even an explanation of where you intend to take the story, if you’re running out of time. What you submit should not be your first or second draft.

What is the deadline? Midnight Sept. 27. Anything after that will be considered late and docked half a mark. Extensions will be only  be granted for exceptional circumstances. However, we must have a conversation.

Assignment Two (TOP)

Qs AND As:

What’s the due date? By midnight Sunday Nov. 3

What do I submit?

  1. A 500 word document explaining your methodology, which can be in point form;
  2. A 600-word story uploaded to the datajournalism_2019 category and kept in draft form until you receive permission to  publish;
  3. The same story emailed as a Word document;
  4. An export of the dataset you used.

This assignment will be a federal riding profile using Statistics Canada data sources such as the 2016 census material. Because you’ll be submitting the story AFTER THE ELECTION, you’ll need to top up the riding  profile with reaction from a candidate or representative from the winning or losing camp. From this reaction, the story can pivot into the actual profile. So, think of this story as divided into two sections. The top section is the reaction; the second section is the profile.

What’s the topic?

A riding profile using data, including the census and Elections Canada with reaction from the winning or losing camp.

How many interviews do I need?

At least two, including an individual from the winning or losing camp.

Must the interview with the central character be in person?

Yes.

How will the audience know if I’ve conducted the interview in person?

With the use of details in your writing that demonstrate that you were in the same location. Examples: an office piled with books on the desk; a living room filled with laughter of children; a noisy cafe; etc.

Will I be required to use visualizations?

Three, including a photograph of your story’s subject and a map using ArcGIS Online, which you will learn how to use in class.

Will I required to hyperlink key references in my text to the original source?

Yes. And, as was the case with the first assignment, avoid hyperlinking to news stories. Where possible, use primary sources.

Can I submit outlines and drafts?

Yes. Up to 48 hours before due date.

Will I be docked half a grade for neglecting to submit any of the required elements?

Yes.

Will I be docked half a grade for neglecting to give my visualizations titles, to cite sources or to provide cutlines for my photographs? 

Yes.

Will I be docked half a grade for a late submission?

Yes.

Will I lose marks for failing to reach or exceed the word limit?

Yes. As discussed in the previous assignment, 50 words over or under the limit is not a huge deal. Anything that exceeds those thresholds will be penalized.

Remember:

This is a riding profile using the datasets we’ve reviewed in class. Use the data to profile a riding: Does it have an above-average concentration of visible minorities? Did it have the largest voter turnout in the last federal election? Did that turnout play a role in the election result?

Assignment Three (TOP)

Qs AND As:

What’s the due date?  By midnight Dec. 6

What do I submit?

  1. The 600-word story, posted to the datajournalism_2019 category and kept in draft form until you receive permission to  publish;
  2. A 500-word background document which MUST contain the MySQL script you used to create your table;
  3. The csv file that you exported from MySQL;
  4. Save your actual story as a Word file and submit that, too.

How is the assignment to be submitted? You will upload the story to the datajournalism_2019 category .

What’s the topic? Any dataset that we have discussed in the MySQL section.

How many interviews do I need? At least two. One must be an expert; the other must be involved somehow.

Do I have to do extensive work in MySQL? No, just the initial data work to obtain the table you want, which can be then exported as a csv file.

Will I be required to use visualizations? Yes, at least two. If you’re using a  picture, make it a good size that spans the width of the story. If it’s a map or a graph, be sure that it is properly labeled with a source and cutline.

Will I be required to hyperlink key references in my text to the original source? Absolutely!

Can I submit outlines and drafts? Yes, but given the size of the class, I can only review one version, using the same criteria outlined in the assignment one Q and A.

Will I be docked half a grade for neglecting to submit any of the required elements? Yes.

Will I be docked half a grade for neglecting to give my visualizations titles, source citations and cutlines? I didn’t for the first assignment.  But will for this one.

Will I lose marks for failing to reach or exceed the word limit? It’s not a big deal if you’re 20 or so words over or under the limit. However, anything longer than 650 is too long and should be trimmed. Anything under 550 words is too short.

Remember: Keep it simple.  The fewer numbers, the better. Tell a story!!

Readings(TOP)

Week One:
The Data Journalist: Chapters 1, 2 and 3

Week two:
The Data Journalist: Chapter 4

Week three:
The Data Journalist: Chapters 8 and 11

Week four:
The Data Journalist: Chapters 6 and 7

Week five:

Week six: 
To be assigned

Week seven:

Week eight:

Week nine:

Week ten:

Week eleven:
Chapter 5

Week twelve:

Additional Reading (TOP)

Week one:
The colour of money.  Writing coach, Don Gibb’s, must-read article on using numbers in stories

10 principles for data journalism in its second decade
https://medium.com/@paulbradshaw/10-principles-for-data-journalism-in-its-second-decade-3b45e08a4793

Data in the air: a guide to producing data journalism for radio

Week ten:

MySQL Crash Course
https://www.amazon.ca/MySQL-Crash-Course-Ben-Forta/dp/0672327120

Tutorials(TOP)

From week one:

To obtain the Statistics Canada tutorial on using data tables, please click here.

From week two:

For the tutorial explaining how to download the federal donation data please click here.

Tutorial for downloading federal political contribution data.pdf

Follow this tutorial which explains how to download, save and open the donations table. Upload the Conservative Party leadership contribution file to Google Sheet. Determine which candidate raised the most money and attracted the highest number of donors.

To obtain the pivot table tutorial, please click here.

From week three:

To read read the email chain that  lead to informal request
for a more detailed road collision dataset than the one on the
city’s open-data portal, please click here.

To obtain the tutorial on calculating per cents, please click here.

To obtain the specialized functions tutorial, please click here.

To obtain the paste special tutorial, please click here.

From week four:

Getting data into Tableau:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrt8hyOaZRI

Working with data:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7nuVSsXWeM

Building dashboards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es50LH0Pbiw

Tableau’s Free Training Videos
https://www.tableau.com/learn/training

To download the Infogram tutorial, please click here.

From week five:

JournalismGISWorkshop.pdf

To download the tutorial for downloading Qgis, please click here.

CH7 – The Data Journalist: Selecting Features in QGIS Desktop.pdf

Using the Qgis field calculator to obtain a percent of total in a new column

Using Vlookup in Excel to combine two census tables

From week six:

To download the DocumentCloud tutorial, please click here.

Spatial joins using Ottawa collision data and ward 2014 shape file

From week seven:

Instructions for adding point features to Qgis.pdf

For Kent Jacob’s tutorial on  downloading Open Street Map data, please click here.

IntroArcGISOnline_media.pdf

To download the QGIS geocoding tutorial, please click here.

To download the ArcGIS Online tutorial  for Story Map Journal templates ( beginning at Exercise: 7 on page 28 ), please click here.

From week nine:

IntroArcGISOnline_media.pdf

From week ten:

OntarioLobbyistScrape.mp4

Installing MAMP

From week eleven:

Appendix A:Data Integrity and Cleaning.pdf

To download the Windows version of MySQL installation tutorial, please click here.

To download the Mac version of the MySQL installation tutorial, please click here.

Instructions for accessing MySQL on the computers in the Carleton computer lab.pdf

Setting up your own personal MySQL server in the cloud with Microsoft Azure 

PowerPoint to accompany MySQL tutorial using 2017 311 data.pptx

CH5 – Making Tables and Importing Data into MySQL.pdf

CH5 – Getting Started with Queries in MySQL.pdf

WebScraping PowerPoint

From week twelve:

From week thirteen:

Datasets(TOP)

From week one:
FederalFinancialReturns.csv.xlsx

fb-data-cdn-subset.xlsx

From week two:

Updated Facebook Ad Data

FederalFinancialReturns.csv.xlsx

From week three:

fbAds_withtopics_09-16.zip

Elections Canada voter tables.zip

Appearance on Power & Politics to discuss the blackface incident

To download the workbook for the “Working with specialized functions in Excel” tutorial, please click here.

From week four:

From week five:

Zipped shape file containing updated and clean census data that can be uploaded to Qgis

Revised census data for Qgis

2016 Census data for federal ridings

From week six:

From week seven:

Ridings_CensusData_join_updated.zip

From week eight:

From week nine:
Newly Elected Parliamentarians_Oct 29, 2019.xlsx

From week ten:

Ont_Atl_Fed_LobbyingFiles.zip

Week eleven: 

publichealth.sql.zip

Ottawa311Complaints.zip

OttawaParkingTicketsFileandQueries.zip

From week twelve:

Federal_Alberta_Ontario_Lobbyist_Files.zip

From week thirteen:

Ottawa_inspections_tables _UPDATED

Federal Lobbyist_updated

Additional Resources(TOP)

MySQL Crash Course 

MySQL Crash Course | Learn SQL

SQL Crash Course – Beginner to Intermediate

Math Tools for Journalists
https://www.amazon.ca/Math-Tools-Journalists-Professor-Professional/dp/0972993746

Fundamental search for journalists (Conversations with Data, Issue #39)

Data Visualization: A Primer