News & Politics
Most reputable organisations will provide some level of information about the data they publish so that we can see how it was collected, who procured it, and for what purpose. Without this basic information, we should be wary of any results drawn from this data. This information is often described in the ‘Methodology’ section of a document (i.e. news article, survey report, academic paper) and it is crucial to whether we should trust the data.In this video, Todd Hartman explains some of the important questions a reliable methodology section should answer:- WHO sponsored the study, and who collected the data?- WHAT is the sample size?- WHEN was the data collected or observed?- WHERE is the data from?- HOW was the data collected?- WHY was the data collected?