Data Reporting

Course materials for MPJO-722-01, Georgetown University

This project is maintained by dwillis

MPJO-722-01: Data Reporting
Census Data; Writing with Data
Links
Assignments for April 9

Census: Using American Factfinder, find 2013 ACS 5-year estimates for median age at first marriage among 15-to-54 year olds, by state. Using the Guided Search, you'll need to add the topic (Marital History), geography (All States within US) to your search selection, and then skip to Search Results. Pick the "Median Age at First Marriage" 2013 5-Year Estimates and download a CSV version of the result using the Download link, making sure to check the box marked "Include descriptive data element names", and then clean up the CSV so that one header row remains and save it as an Excel file. Then calculate the difference between the male and female median ages for each state - which state has the largest gap? What stories might you be able to report based on this data? Save the file as an excel file and email it to me, along with your story idea(s).

Critique: Please read this Dallas Morning News piece on college tuition and its online elements and write at least 600 words on your assessment of it. Like the first critique, imagine that you had been assigned to do this story: what would you have done differently, or not at all? Remember to be specific.

Story Memo: Update your log of your activities. Here's an example of a finished one from a previous class.

Email me your Excel file with story ideas and your critique, along with your story memo log, by 5:20 on April 9.