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Introduction to Data Science: A Low-Code Project-Based Approach

Hannah Kurzweil

Section Project Launch: Community Health and Environment

Subsection The Sample Project

Throughout this course, we’ll work with a Community Health and Environment dataset to demonstrate data science concepts. Versions can be found on the CDC’s website
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data.cdc.gov/browse?category=500+Cities+%26+Places&q=2024&sortBy=relevance&tags=places&pageSize=20
where you’ll navigate to the most recent file, click Export in the top right-hand corner, and download it as a .csv file. This dataset contains information about:
  • Health indicators (asthma rates, heart disease prevalence)
  • Environmental factors (air quality, green space access)
  • Demographic information (income, education, location)
Using this dataset, we’ll explore questions such as:
  • How do environmental factors relate to health outcomes?
  • Do these relationships vary across different demographic groups?
  • What interventions might improve community health based on our findings?
Screenshot showing a preview of the community health and environment dataset with columns for neighborhood, health indicators, and environmental factors.
Figure 8. Sample Community Health Dataset

Subsection Selecting Your Own Dataset

While I’ll demonstrate concepts using the Community Health dataset, you’ll select and work with your own dataset throughout this course. Your chosen dataset should:
  • Contain at least 100 records (rows) of data
  • Include at least 8 variables (columns)
  • Include a mix of categorical and numerical data
  • Be complex enough to support interesting questions
  • Be available for download so you can work with the file
Here are some potential topics for your project:
Sports
  • Team or player statistics
  • Game outcomes
  • Performance metrics
Entertainment
  • Music streaming trends
  • Movie or TV ratings
  • Social media metrics
Local Issues
  • Traffic patterns
  • Business performance
  • Educational outcomes
Health & Wellness
  • Fitness tracking data
  • Nutrition databases
  • Public health statistics
  • Sleep pattern analysis
Environment & Climate
  • Weather patterns
  • Air/water quality
  • Energy consumption
  • Biodiversity metrics
Economics & Finance
  • Consumer spending patterns
  • Housing market trends
  • Stock market data
  • Small business statistics
Technology & Innovation
  • Mobile app usage statistics
  • Technology adoption rates
  • Social media metrics
  • Internet accessibility worldwide
Transportation
  • Public transit ridership data
  • Vehicle safety statistics
  • Bike sharing program usage
  • Commuting patterns
Education & Learning
  • Student performance metrics
  • Higher education statistics
  • Educational technology usage
  • Learning outcomes by teaching method

Activity 5. Dataset Exploration.

In this activity, you’ll explore potential datasets for your project.
(b)
Identify three potential datasets that match our criteria and interest you.
(c)
For each dataset, record in a working file for this project:
  • The source and a brief description
  • The number of records and variables
  • At least two questions you might investigate with this dataset
To stay on time for this project, you should have selected your dataset and begun exploring it in CODAP by the end of this week.
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