1. Data for Dissertations I: Discovery By Kara Jackman Archivist and Preservation Librarian (And By Night… Freelance Journalist)

2. Storytelling with Data Let me tell you a story about storytelling with data…. Realized very similar process to research methods, to the scientific method

3. As Doctoral Students You must come up with a unique topic to write about for your thesis Difficult to do, right? So...Data Science, Storytelling with Data can help you find a unique angle on a large, commonly encountered data set

4. Questions What is data? Big Data? Why is it important? Where can I find data on the internet? How do you download? What now? (Come to Part II)

5. What is data? It is raw, very messy sets of information -”big data has lots of spam and inaccuracies” – BU MET Prof., Robert Shudy -”Data is like a huge box filled with all kinds of junk.” BU Prof. A. Banasiewicz Primary resources found on the web – Digitized paper records, spreadsheets filled with information, results from studies, test results, etc. – Tweets, Facebook statuses, etc. Data sets released from non-profits, the government, commercial services, repositories, groups of organizations, and more Information is downloadable in variety of formats including (csv, xls)

6. Not Available online? May not be online you may have to go to Archives and create your own spreadsheets filled with this information (Ex. Church Records Collections Ledgers, Methodist Church Class Records, Statistical information from Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries Reports, etc.) Or create surveys, polls, etc. to develop your own data set

7. Why is data and data science important? For companies, it means more money, more ways to sell or tell their stories in a qualitative fashion Can transform spreadsheets and data points into charts and graphs through data manipulation and visualization Brings together raw information, research methods, and a little computer science to manipulate the data, to show patterns, prove your thesis (or hypothesis) Data science skills will help you with future job opportunities

8. Before the Where, the What? Follow the scientific method – Get a topic, search for information Ask the right questions AND…Be sure you are asking the right questions in the right places Begin with Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? More specific about the “5 W’s”, the better the results

9. Data Science/Storytelling with Data

10. Research Methods

11. Scientific method

12. How do I find the Data? Websites Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, etc.) Proprietary Databases (BU Libraries A-Z Databases)

13. Websites http://www.data.gov http://www.pewforum.org/data/ http://www.thearda.com http://www.goa.gov http://www.propublica.org http://www.metrobostondatacommon.org

14. Social Media Use these tools to “listen in” on social media conversations http://www.socialmention.com Social Media Aggregators http://www.RebelMouse.com http://www.icerocket.com http://www.topsy.com http://www.addictomatic.com

15. Social Media You can create a data set of tweets, or mention of “faith” or other theological topics and use THAT as part of your original research Use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets A list of the Best Social Media Aggregators https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best- Social-Media-Aggregator

16. Buzzsumo http://www.buzzsumo.com

17. Buzzsumo Results

18. Verify Social Media Stories https://addons.mozilla.org/en- us/firefox/addon/identify/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en- us/firefox/addon/identify/ http://www.verificationjunkie.com

19. Google Enter “Free Downloadable Data on [insert topic here] Advanced Searching in Google Check Google Apps

20. Proprietary Databases (Libraries) The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research http://www.worldreligiondatabase.org.ezprox y.bu.edu/wrd_home.asp http://www.worldreligiondatabase.org.ezprox y.bu.edu/wrd_home.asp TableBase – covers most topics Lexis-Nexis Factiva Academic OneFile

21. How to Download?

23. Next Time…in Part II How to Manipulate data in Excel and Google Spreadsheets Pivot Tables in Excel Basic Visualization of Data using Excel Timelines