Computer Science 263: Ethical Issues in Software Design

The information provided here is adapted from Carleton College's Data Reference Worksheet.

1. What is your research topic or question?

2. What are the characteristics of the data you need?

• Unit of Analysis (e.g. individuals, households, companies, players, teams, counties, states, nations):
• Geography (e.g. parcels in a city, counties in a region, democratized countries):
• Time Period (e.g. 1980 2006):
• Frequency (e.g. annual, quarterly):

3. Who is likely to collect data on this topic? List as many ideas as you can think of. Visit their web sites and list sources to follow up on.

• Researchers
• Government Agencies
• NGOs/IGOs
• Think Tanks and Research Organizations

4. What specialized data search tools might be helpful? Data are often collected in repositories or reported in compendia and reports,
which can be used as starting points on the trail to the data you need.

• Compendia, Portals, & Indexes: When data are likely to be compiled or reported, these tools allow you to search by topic and discover data
  and data producers. Likely candidates include: Data Citation Index, Statistical Abstract of the United States, Social Explorer, and Data.gov
• Data Collections, Archives, & Repositories: When data are likely to be shared by the researchers who produced them, they are likely to deposit the data in repositories. Likely candidates include: ICPSR, Re3data.org, Dryad, World Bank Data Catalog, and journal data repositories

5. What scholarly research might have published or used the data you need? Track what you find in the literature to discover data sources, understand the data landscape, and place your research into context with related research. Make sure to record:

• Author(s)
• Date
• Data collected or used
• Claim(s) / significant findings

6. How will you evaluate the data you find and decide which sources to use? Consider:

• Overview information: Who is the creator of the data? Why was it collected? What is its scope? What geography and time period are covered?
• Technical documentation: Look for and download or document technical documentation about the dataset, including information on how it was created (e.g., survey, administrative reporting, direct measure), variable definitions, indications of what was included or excluded. Survey instruments are also helpful. Hint: look for a codebook, user guide, or documentation section of the site.
• Download options and access restrictions: Who can access an use the data? Contact a librarian if you are unsure if you can access it. What formats of download are available: CSV, text, Excel?
• Still not sure if this is the right dataset for your project? Carleton has a helpful guide that suggests some additional questions to ask when evaluating data.

7. How will you keep track of the data you find? Consider recording:

• URL or DOI
• Date
• Author, principal investigator, producing agency, etc.
• Exact name of dataset (not just the website's name) and version, if applicable
• The exact query you used to create the download you got
• Where you are storing local copies of data and all relevant documentation
• Suggested citation information, if provided