Data Contest
This contest—hosted by BCSTAT for high schoolers in Baltimore County—will provide students with an opportunity to practice their data analysis skills and learn more about the important role data plays in government operations. The objective of this project is to propose solutions regarding issues that affect every day County residents using data-informed practices.
Participants will:
- Choose a dataset—For analysis to identify trends, patterns and areas of concern.
- Write a report—Explains the dataset, methodology, conclusions and recommendations.
- Make a creative product—Represents the story of the data.
COntest Divisions
There are three divisions for this contest:
- Division 1—9th and 10th graders
- Division 2—11th and 12th graders
- Division 3—For teams with members in different grade levels.
Contest Timeline
- Registration Form Due—Monday, April 21
- Projects Due—Monday, May 19
- Winners Announced—Early June
Prize
The winning students will have the opportunity to join BCSTAT for a day. In this job-shadowing opportunity, students will present their projects to departmental leaders, spend time with BCSTAT data and policy analysts, and experience day-to-day local government operations.
How to Complete the Project
Students can work individually or in a team (maximum of four members).
Complete the online registration form below. Each team member must complete a parental consent form and upload it with the online registration form.
Choose a dataset based on the recommendations/specifications. While some Baltimore County specific datasets have a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) focus, GIS software does not need to be utilized for this project.
Complete an analysis of your dataset. Look for trends, associations between variables, comparisons amongst different census tracts—whatever seems most appropriate for your data. Remember, the goal is to analyze an issue to provide recommendations for solutions.
After completing your analysis, it is time to communicate your findings. Write a report to explain your analysis processes, findings and provide recommendations. Review the evaluation criteria for the written report.
Now that you have completed your analysis and written a report, you can shift your focus to communicating your findings in a creative way. The goal of this project component is to practice sharing data analysis findings with a nontechnical audience.
Translate the story of your chosen dataset into an art piece, PowerPoint presentation, model, explanatory video, podcast, skit, whatever medium feels right to you. You may also include a brief artist statement/explanation of your creative expression, if necessary. Review the evaluation criteria for the creative component.
Once you have completed all of the project components, submit your project to the BCSTAT team via email to bcstat@baltimorecounytmd.gov. All projects must be submitted in a digital file format by the contest deadline on Monday, May 19.
If you created a physical art piece/model for your project, take photos/videos to include as your submission.
Division One participants can choose one of the following datasets to analyze.
Note: Remember that that first row of the U.S. census data spreadsheets represents all of Baltimore County, and the following rows represent a specific census tract.
Dataset Topic | Description | Data Sources and Sets |
---|---|---|
Field of Bachelor’s Degree for First Major U.S. Census Data |
Discover the fields of study pursued by those 25 years and older in Baltimore County. |
|
Food Access Research Atlas USDA |
Learn about the percentage of those who have limited access to food by age in Baltimore County. The dataset has been pre-filtered to focus on Baltimore County. Some columns from the original data source have been excluded for simplicity. | |
Health Insurance Coverage U.S. Census Data |
Analyze the percentage of County residents who have health insurance, by race, ethnicity and sex. |
|
Transportation to Work U.S. Census Data |
Learn about the means of transportation that employees utilize to get to work and the percentage of those who work from home in the County. |
|
Tree Inventory Baltimore County Open Data |
Investigate tree inventory information regarding trees in the Towson area of Baltimore County, including tree species, health, location and more. |
|
Types of Computers in Household U.S. Census Data |
Explore the types of technology that County households use. Data aggregates information by census tract. Data from the original source was transposed. |
|
Other Resources
Participants can utilize one of the datasets from Division 1, or they can search for their own dataset. Data should be based on/in Baltimore County, and should focus on an issue with the intention of determining ways to better serve County residents. Multiple datasets can be combined/merged.
Recommended Sources for Finding Datasets
- Baltimore County Open Data—Datasets published by Baltimore County Government
- U.S. Census Data—Data topics include business and economy, education, employment, families and living arrangements, government, health, housing, income and poverty, populations and people, and race and ethnicity. Use an advanced search to apply filters to focus on County-specific data.
- Data can be broken down into ZIP codes and census tracts.
- Utilize five-year estimates as these datasets are more likely to have data for individual census tracts.
- Data.gov—Provides links to data from federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and more. Datasets must be filtered/screened to be specific to Baltimore County.
Evaluation Criteria
Projects will be evaluated by a panel of judges with varying backgrounds and subject matter expertise. Unless otherwise noted in the tables below, each report section and project component will be scored based on the following scale:
- No evidence—0
- Poor—2
- Below average—4
- Average—6
- Above Average—8
- Excellent—10
The contest and evaluation criteria were modeled after the Baltimore Data Jam Competition.
Report Section | Criteria |
---|---|
Title |
Note: This report section will be graded on a scale of either 0 (no evidence) or 1 (excellent). |
Introduction |
|
Methodology
|
|
Results |
|
Conclusions |
|
Works Cited |
Note: This report section will be graded on a scale of 0 (no evidence) to 5 (excellent). |
Project Component | Criteria |
---|---|
Data Incorporation | Data is accurately represented within the creative project. |
Storytelling | The story of the data is portrayed in a creative manner. |
Craftsmanship | The creative project is constructed in a skillful and effective manner. |