Before class
Reading
- "The Opportunity Gap" by Sharona Coutts and Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica, 2011. Presented by Ruth Michaelson. Online database here.
In class
- Story reviews
- Importing your data into MySQL
- Reviewing SQL joins
Resources
Joining in SQL
- VIDEO: An introduction to joining in MySQL. Get the sample data here and here and the SQL file here.
Importing
Importing data is one of the most difficult parts of working with databases and other data journalism projects. While Web developers and visualization specialists start with an assumption that they will get pristine data already in JSON, XML or CSV form, reporters can assume nothing like it. If you DO have an easy csv, then consider using SequelPro, a free client that can import csv or simple XML tables.
Another option is to install Microsoft Windows ($119.99 commercial cost) on your Mac as a Bootcamp partition, then buy a 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Home Pro edition ($99/year for 5 licenses. It includes Access for Windows, which is much easier than MySQL, and also would give you a license for Excel for the Mac.) Another is to buy a utility that can help you make it easier. One example is Navicat for non-commercial uses, currently on sale for $59.25. We'll give you a preview of how it works in class. In fact, if you use Windows, it's even easier in MySQL -- there's a plug-in to Excel that lets you query your data directly from Excel and upload any table from Excel directly to MySQL.
Otherwise, you're stuck. You have to have a perfect CSV, then you have to learn the commands in MySQL to import it from the command line. (We don't have that memorized.)