DataHaven has access to geocoded data sets on a variety of issues that impact the metropolitan area, such as housing, crime, foreclosures, community investments, scholarship recipients, student achievement, and block-level data from thousands of local residents obtained by some of the most comprehensive health and quality of life surveys conducted anywhere in the nation. Please see http://www.ctdatahaven.org/blog/2013/01/new-haven-infographic-homicides/ for an example of a recent analysis that combines crime and quality of life data. These data are currently being used by many researchers to answer a variety of research questions, but DataHaven requires guidance on the best ways to present the spatial data visually and answer questions about the distribution of concerns across our area. For example, are elementary school students more likely to achieve in school, or be healthy, when they live in a more stable neighborhood with greater levels of tree cover and less noise pollution (if so, where are those neighborhoods)? Are crimes more likely to take place on a block that has suffered from foreclosures? Are residents happier or more involved in their local communities when they live on “block faces” where other residents have reported having good sidewalks, bike lanes, and parks? All of these questions can be answered using our extensive data sets, but we need help to ensure that findings can be communicated to the general public using great visuals.
Please see the list above. All of these and other data sets are available, both as de-identified individual records (in the case of survey or crime data) as well as in aggregate form (e.g., aggregated by Census Block or Neighborhood). All data sets have been geocoded in cases where appropriate. We also have prepared all Census, American Community Survey, and other State or Federal administrative data, processed into indicators and calculated for all FIPS codes, towns, and local neighborhoods, which makes mapping data a piece of cake. All shapefiles are also available.
We are looking for someone very creative who can help us do more than the standard tables and maps that display block level incident rates. We are looking to create infographics, and complete more complicated geospatial analyses (e.g., based on point level or “block face” data rather than data aggregated to a block). These analyses will help communicate various issues of concern to the general public, as well as support collaborative research efforts with our local universities.
As suggested above, the analyses produced through Summer of Maps can be used to support our many community projects, including a report for the NAACP, a community indicators report on the entire region, collaborations with local university researchers, and articles in local newspaper outlets. We would be happy to cite your involvement on any work that we publish.
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