STEVE DOIGCRONKITE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Using data in science journalism

Precision journalism

“The plural of anecdote is not evidence.”Pioneers: Cronkite, Herald and InquirerPhil Meyer wrote the book in 1972 calling for

journalists to use social science methodsSome journalists began doing computer-

assisted reporting in the early 1980sNICAR created in early 1990sToday thousands of reporters doing precision

journalism

Data-driven stories

Sociology: “Color of Money”, censusWeather disaster: “What Went Wrong”,

KatrinaEnvironment: “Boss Hog”, “Toxic Waters”, FL

wetlands, “Ghost Factories”, “Smokestack Effect”,

Medical: “Culture of Resistance”, radiation errors, Medicare fraud, “Playing with Fire”

Technical Tools

Search (browser and Google)Spreadsheet (Excel)Database manager (Access, MySQL)Statistical software (SPSS, R)Programming (Python, SAS, perl, et al.)Mapping (ArcMap, QGIS, Tableau)Visualization (Fusion Tables, R, Stata, et al.)Exotica: GPS, satellite imagery, drones,

sensors

Methods

Newsroom math: Percentage change, crowd counting, etc.

Descriptive statistics: Mean, median, rangeCorrelation and regressionUnderstanding p-values and confidence

intervalsIndexes:

Dissimilarity (measures segregation) Diversity (measures population mix) Benford’s Law (used in forensic accounting) HHI (measures market competitiveness)

Google Tricks

Site: , filetype:Define:6 dollars in euros, miles in 35 km3.14159*452345Weather bostonBoston moviesFedEx, UPS trackingFlight info

Science.gov

Data.gov

USGS.gov

IRE.org data library

Eurekalert.org

Strategies

Which agency would have the data you want?Science data agencies: FDA, EPA, NSF, Census,

CDC, NRC, FAA, NTSB, NHTSA…Look for “data” linksScience societies and journals: AAAS, AMA, et al.Get on email lists of agencies and societies that

interest youJoin NASW (and IRE)Use search to find scholars working in your fieldMonitor e-journals like Arxiv.org

TAKE A BREAK!

www.public.asu.edu/~sdoig/knight/