Once you’ve done your analysis, you may want to create graphs, charts, or maps to display your results. Here are some resources to help you display your data in visually appealing, reader-friendly formats. Flowing Data offers a plethora of tutorials that will help you visualize your data. You’ll learn how to make cartograms, upset plots, […]
R is a popular programming language most commonly used for data cleaning, statistics, and data visualization. Both the R program and R-Studio are open source. Below are some books and online resources to get you started. Many of the online vendors listed under “Training Courses” offer free or low-cost classes in R. Datajournalism.com offers this […]
If you have a dataset involving geographic locations, these tools and tipsheets can help you analyze your data using maps. The most commonly used mapping programs in newsrooms are ArcGIS from Esri (which has free options for journalists) and the open-source program QGIS. Some also are useful for visualizing, but we’ve added a separate list […]
Python is one of the most popular programming languages for data journalists, and it is useful for scraping websites as well as cleaning and analyzing data. Here are some resources for learning to code in Python. A Byte of Python is an online book dedicated to the basics of Python. It is targeted at those […]
SQL is a commonly used language for working with databases. It is particularly useful for working with larger datasets that can bog down Excel and for joining separate datasets for analysis. Several open-source versions are used in newsrooms, including Postgresql and DB Browser for SQLite. Here are some tips on how to get started. This […]
Spreadsheets often are the first data tool journalists learn to use. They come in handy for cleaning and analyzing data in structured formats such as .csv files. Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are the most commonly used spreadsheets. Below are some resources to help you navigate Excel and improve your spreadsheet skills. Data Journalism Training: […]
Got dirty data or pesky PDFs? These programs can help you get your data into a format you can use. OpenRefine is a free tool for exploring, cleaning, and matching data. It is particularly useful for dealing with messy data. It is available in English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Japanese, Italian, Hungarian, […]
Once you have your data, check out these free online tipsheets and tutorials for advice on how to inspect and clean it before you start analyzing. This story is a great example of what to do when there are gaps in terms of the data available from official bodies (2021). Data Biographies: How to Get […]
Government bodies often have mechanisms that allow journalists and members of the public to request data and documents. Below are some resources to help you understand the public records laws where you live and draft successful records requests. The National Freedom of Information Coalition is a US nonprofit organization that has a guide to international […]
These conferences can provide opportunities to network, learn new techniques, and discuss story ideas with fellow data journalists. The Centre for Investigative Journalism Summer Conference includes sessions on data journalism from leading practitioners. Data Harvest is held in conjunction with the European Investigative Journalism Conference. The next one is scheduled for 19-22 May 2022 in […]
