Summary and Schedule
One of the primary challenges with the utilization of digital datasets in the social sciences is a lack of data literacy skills in collecting data. This includes both data collection from existing data repositories and field-based data collections such as observation data, interviews, and surveys. This module will provide learning materials on both sides to prepare the researchers with data collection skills at beginner, intermediate, and expert levels.
Getting Started
These modules are intended to be hands-on through the use of Jupyter notebooks. No prior experience is assumed in order to use these materials.
| Setup Instructions | Download files required for the lesson | |
| Duration: 00h 00m | 1. Data from U.S. Census Bureau |
What are the kinds of datasets available from the U.S. Census
Bureau? How can you visualize and analyze these datasets for your region of interest? How do you combine spatial and tabular data from the Census Bureau? What are the variables in the ACS dataset? |
| Duration: 01h 45m | 2. Acquiring Raster Data using Imagery Databases |
Where can I access raster and satellite imagery datasets? How do I download and use CORONA and Sentinel Imagery? What tools and platforms are commonly used for data collection in the field? |
| Duration: 02h 25m | 3. Acquiring Vector Datasets from Data Repositories | |
| Duration: 03h 05m | 4. Field-based Data Collection |
What are the kinds of datasets available from the U.S. Census
Bureau? How can you visualize and analyze these datasets for your region of interest? Where can you find additional information about a particular dataset? How do you combine spatial and tabular data from the Census Bureau? |
| Duration: 04h 50m | Finish |
The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.
Data Sets
Each lesson will provide instructions on where to access and download the relevant datasets.
Software Setup
Details
We will be utilizing Jupyter notebooks for most of the hands-on activities. A public JupyterHub server has been setup for these lessons, where you can login with your institutional credentials. Some of the lessons will require the use of a desktop GIS tool such as QGIS. You can download the version of QGIS for your operating system here.