An Introduction to Aid Data

Curriculum

6 Sections
35 Lessons
Lifetime

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Introduction to aid data
Welcome to the world of aid data! In this first module, we’ll be starting from first principles: what do we actually mean when we say ‘aid’, and why is looking at aid data important?
5
A guide to IATI data
One major source of aid data is made available through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). There are a few different ways that you can access raw IATI data, so here’s a quick run through of what you can get, and where it is, including IATI data itself as well as data about IATI data (metadata).
6
Cleaning IATI data with OpenRefine
So once you've got the raw IATI data, what next? Often it might need 'cleaning' - here, we'll use a sample IATI dataset to learn how to use a powerful cleaning tool, OpenRefine.
5
An introduction to OECD-DAC data
Another major source of data available about international development data, is the OECD. Here, we run through a few ways that they make this data available, and where to find what you're looking for.
8
Inspiration module: how is aid data used in the media?
We've seen a few ways of where to find aid data, how to clean it and use it - but how is this applied in the real world? Here are a couple of examples of 'reverse engineering' aid data that we might come across in the media - maybe it will give you some ideas!
6
Jargon busting the world of aid
This module is intended as a reference point while you're going through the other modules. In each case, the relevance of the term to working specifically with data is highlighted to try and make it clear what you should be looking out for when you come across the term in your work.
5

Introduction

It’s all very well learning where aid data is, what it is, and how to find it – but most often, we come across the data already packaged up as ‘information’. In this module, we’ll try to ‘reverse engineer’ some of the figures that we come across in a couple of media outlets – this can give us a hint of where journalists might find their data, and it also helps us to fact-check the information that is presented to the public.

Objectives:

Learn about how aid data is currently used in the media through a couple of case studies
Understand how to ‘reverse engineer’ these figures, to fact-check them from the source.
Understand why lots of these figures often deserve a second look, rather than being taken at face value

Prerequisites/before you get started:

Complete ‘An introduction to aid data; what is it, where is it’
Read the two articles in the case studies – Why is Afghanistan sending aid to Gaza and British aid money is funding corruption overseas

Further resources

An Introduction to Aid Data

Curriculum

Introduction

Objectives:

Prerequisites/before you get started:

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