Choosing Data to Meet Your Needs

If you are given an assignment to go “find data” to use for your coursework or research, that can be daunting. Where do you start? How do you know which data? The resources How to Find a Dataset and Navigating Around Restricted Data can help with the process, but taking a few minutes to specify your requirements in advance might help you as your search begins to yield results.

Download the printable worksheet

This worksheet can assist students with identifying the key features of data needed to complete an assignment or answer a research question. It highlights different characteristics based on whether the focus is completing a statistics or data science assignment or beginning a research project. The document includes categories such as minimum number of variables, documentation requirements, units of observation, and more.