Can you spin stories out of data? Prove it. 

It was hard to keep the datasets limited to just three this time around, with so many users releasing some very intriguing data in the last week. We managed to whittle the list down to a few key datasets recently published by some news outlets and journalists.

Without further ado, here are the rules and data for our second monthly data-storytelling contest:

THE GOAL: To tell the story behind the data through your own BuzzData project

THE RULES: The number of data sources you can include in your project is unlimited, but you must use at least one of the following, and you have to include all data sources used in your final submission.

THE DATA:

1) B.C. Prison Seizures, 2008-2010

Published by: Chad Skelton: Vancouver Sun investigative reporter, specializing in FOI requests and data journalism. 

Description: “Data obtained from the Correctional Service of Canada by The Vancouver Sun through the Access to Information Act, detailing all seizures of contraband and unauthorized items in B.C. federal prisons between January 2008 and October 2010.”

2) 2010 Canadian charities tax filings, selected columns

Published by:  The Globe and Mail: Canada’s national newspaper

Description: “The Globe and Mail has set out to measure the state of philanthropy , and part of that has involved examining data filed by Canadian registered charities in their tax returns. The Globe and Mail obtained complete databases for the years 1997 to 2009, and partial data from 2010 (data from about 20% of the country’s charities hadn’t been processed by the end of July, 2011). All of the data, maintained by the Charities Directorate of Canada Revenue Agency, is available to the public by law.”

NOTE: We are currently in the midst of trying to get the entire charity database online in a non-.mdb file format, such that projects needn’t be limited to querying specific columns or years or require MS Access to query all the data. If/when we do so, we will update and notify participants accordingly.

3) 2011 U.S. House Election Disbursements

Published by: Matt Stiles: Data journalist at NPR.

Description: “The data reflect campaign disbursements by candidates for U.S. House of Representatives from Jan. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2011. The data only include direct expenditures by federal campaigns, as reporter to the Federal Election Commission — not transfers to other committees or repayments of loans or campaign contributions to other candidates.”

THE DEADLINE:  Midnight EST, Friday, December 2, 2011

HOW TO REGISTER AND SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY:

1. To register: Clone one of the datasets above directly from the publisher on BuzzData. (Make it private if you don’t want the public to see it until it’s ready.)

As early as possible, invite me (Momoko on BuzzData) as a viewer by going to Admin > Collaborators of your clone, writing in my name, selecting “viewer,” and clicking “Add”, like so:

2. Over the next month, build your project on BuzzData (posting links and viz’s as appropriate).

3. When it’s done: note in the Overview which visualization/article/attachment is the final product(s), then, before deadline, invite the original data publisher to check it out. And don’t forget to make it public if you want to show it to the world!

4. Tweet and link to your project elsewhere if you want to build interest in it (optional, but always a good idea)

If you’ve never used BuzzData before, here’s a quick video that shows how to start, build and submit your data project:

-Momoko Price

 Have you tried BuzzData yet? What are you waiting for?

 Got questions? Message me directly.