Clifton Adcock, investigative reporter for Oklahoma Watch, prepared this presentation for NewsTrain in Norman, Oklahoma, on March 4, 2017. It discusses reasons to do data journalism, how to develop a data state of mind, where and how to find data, and how to use Excel to sort and filter data to find story ideas. It is accompanied by a handout, Developing a Data State of Mind. NewsTrain is a training initiative of Associated Press Media Editors (APME). More info: http://bit.ly/NewsTrain

1. Developing a
data state of
mind
Data-driven enterprise
off your beat
Clifton Adcock
Reporter
Oklahoma Watch

2. Where are we headed today?
PhotobyFlickruserBarnImages
• Why do data journalism?
• Develop a data state of mind
• Where and how to find data
• What’s the story?
• Exercises

3. What have
YOU
done with
data?
ByJamesMontgomeryFlagg[Publicdomain],
viaWikimediaCommons

4. Why data journalism?

5. Why data journalism?
• Powerful verification tool
• See the bigger picture
• Find stories
• Better understand the
subject
• Enhances transparency
and credibility

6. 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Sun Sentinel on police speeding
“Nearly 800
cops…drove 90 to
130 mph.”
bit.ly/speedpulitzer

7. What is a data state of mind?
• Move from an
anecdotal view to a
big-picture one.
• Understand the
importance of public
records and data.
• “What data did you
use to come to that
conclusion, and where
did you get it?”

8. What is a data state of mind?
• Understand how
statistics and data
can be
manipulated.
• Understand your
own biases and
assumptions.
“There
are three
kinds of
lies: lies,
damned
lies, and
statistics.
” – Mark
Twain

9. Fallin vs. Dorman on minimum wage
What do the data show?
bit.ly/okminwage
6% of OK
workers
earned
minimum
wage or
below in
2013

10. Categorical

11. Categorical

12. Continuous

13. Continuous

14. What do you want to know?
• A comparison of two or more things?
• Variations over time?
• Relationships between two or more things?

15. What do you want to know?
• Distributions?
• What parts make up the whole?
• A combination of these?

16. Oklahoma
earthquake data
bit.ly/quakeswarm
“More than a dozen
small earthquakes
shook central
Oklahoma…including
several temblors that
were 3.0-magnitude or
higher, which people
can generally feel.”

17. Where’s
the story?
• Did you
answer your
original
question?
• Do the
findings match
other
sources?

18. Where’s
the story?
• How else can
you analyze
the data?
• Was there
something
unexpected?
• How do you
visualize the
findings?

19. Where do you find data?
•Online
•Requests to government agencies,
private companies/organizations
•Gather it yourself

20. Hospital-cost reports
bit.ly/okhospital
“Most of Oklahoma’s
small general hospitals
have lost money in
recent years, while the
opposite is true for
larger hospitals.”

21. Let’s try it: exercises
1. Do a simple sort on
a data set. Open
the Doctors
database, and let’s
see what you find.

22. Exercise 1: Sort data in Excel
Step 1: Highlight all the
data by hitting Control A
on PC or Command A on
Mac.

23. Step 2: Click
on the Funnel
Exercise 1: Sort data in Excel
Step 2: Click
on the funnel
Step 3: Click
“Custom Sort”

24. Exercise 1: Sort data in Excel
Step 4: Click on “Sort by”
drop-down and select
“People per Physician”
Step 5: Click “OK”

25. Exercise 1: Sort data in Excel
Step 6: Click on the “Order”
drop-down and select
“Largest to Smallest”
Step 7: Click “OK”

26. Let’s try it: exercises
1. Do a simple sort on
a data set. What
did you find?
2. Do a simple filter
on a data set.
Open the
Superintendents
database, and let’s
see what you find.

27. Exercise 2: Filter data in Excel
Step 1: Highlight
all the data by
hitting Control A
on PC or
Command A on
Mac.

28. Exercise 2: Filter data in Excel
Step 2: Click
on the funnel
Step 3: Click
“Filter”

29. Exercise 2: Filter data in Excel
Step 4: Click on the small
arrowhead to the right of
“School Year Ending”
header.
Step 5: This box
will appear.

30. Exercise 2: Filter data in Excel
Step 6: Click on the “Order”
drop-down and select
“Largest to Smallest”
Step 7: Click “OK”
Step 6: Unclick
the box next to
“2005”

31. Let’s try it: exercises
1. Do a simple sort on
a data set. What do
you find?
2. Do a simple filter
on a data set. What
did you find?
3. Use the sort/filter
functions on the
county indicators
data. Do you see a
possible story?

32. What data apply to your beat?
• Pair up and look at
pages 4-6 of the
handout.
• Discuss: What data
apply to your beat
or interest you?
• Use Google
Advanced Search
to find data online.

33. https://www.google.com/advanced_search
Keywords
Website
.xls or .xlsx

34. Clifton Adcock
Reporter
Oklahoma Watch
cadcock@oklahomawatch.org
(918) 561-1705
@cliftonhowze
What data story are you going to do?
How can I help?
ByGarethSimpson