Phase 1:
- Break into groups of 2-3. Navigate to https://sarahjpurcell.sites.grinnell.edu/digital_methods/files/IA_TownshipData_1870s.zip in a web browser.
- Download the IA Township Data compressed folder and extract the contents. Save the files to your desktop.
- OPEN a Word Document in which to write your experimental results note. Each INDIVIDUAL will need to submit one of these by 5:00 pm today.
Phase 2:
- Take 10 minutes to explore the data included in the folder.
- What types of data are represented?
- What questions do you have about this data?
- What is not accounted for in this data?
- Write down anything interesting about the data or any questions you have in your experimental results note document.
Phase 3:
- Work collaboratively to explore what types of research questions could you ask of this data, or what stories could you tell with this data.
- Decide what aspects of the data you will need to focus on to address your research question or topic focus.
- Write your research question/s in your experimental results note document.
Phase 4:
- What changes or restructuring needs to happen to the data to be able to analyze and visualize it in response to your group’s focus?
- What might be a way to make those changes?
- Work as a group to restructure/clean/reorganize the data.
- Note how you changed or restructured the data in order to use it for your research question in your experimental results note document.
Phase 5:
- How do you need to analyze this data to respond to your research question or topic focus?
- What measures or calculations are significant?
- What tools that we have explored could you use to analyze those aspects of the data?
- Work as a group to analyze the data.
Phase 6:
- How do you want or need to visualize this data to respond to your research question or focus?
- What types of visualizations might be significant?
- What tools could you use to visualize these aspects of the data? Do you want to use Excel? Or a mapping platform?
- Work as a group to develop visualizations.
- Write in your experimental results document why you chose your specific visualization tool.
Phase 7:
- Share your small group’s work with the larger group.
- Present your analysis and visualizations, but also reflect on your process of developing a research focus and engaging with the data.
- Insert your analysis and at least one visualization into your experimental results document. What did you learn by visualizing this data? Write down some reflections. You may take time to edit the whole document after class, but be sure to turn it in to the class folder in ONEDRIVE by 5:00 today.
