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

Step 1: get the data

We’re going to be working with data in csv format, downloaded from the IATI Registry. Go to the Registry and click on Search the Registry.

There are lots of ways to find what you need within the Registry – easiest though, is simply by searching. Let’s say we want to look at projects taking place in Bangladesh – so, type in ‘Bangladesh’ to the search bar.

You’ll get 28 datasets found for “bangladesh”.

Let’s take a look at what the Asian Development Bank is doing in Bangladesh – the second entry in the list.

We want to work with the data in CSV, so click straight on to the CSV button underneath the entry for the Asian Development Bank.

You’ll come to the CSV Conversion tool then, where you’ll see the URL for the raw data, from the Asian Development Bank site itself, and three options:

In this example, we’re going to use the data from the Simple activity summary, which has aggregated figures rather than a row per transaction, and allows you to see ‘implementing organisation’, contact details of the relevant organisation and contact person in Bangladesh, and other interesting information.

Select ‘Simple activity summary (CSV) and click ‘Download’.

You’ll come to this page, and your data should start to be automatically downloaded.