Overview
Instructions:
The purpose of this exercise is for you to create a database from a written data source—police reports. You will develop the database in Excel and code the information from the police reports located under course files or right here: Police Reports_0.zip
1) In Excel, you will create a data matrix. The matrix will contain 11 rows (one for the header and 10 for the reports) that represent cases and 12 columns of variables with names and specific formats. You will decide what data to capture from the incident reports for the 12 variables and how each variable should be coded and entered.
2) You will also create a second table in Excel (on a separate worksheet) where you will include the name of the variable from the previous sheet, a short description of the variable and what type of format the variable is in. This is called “metadata” and is similar to a data codebook. The type of formats you will use are: numeric, text, date, and time.
3) Finally, in a third worksheet (tab), you will write two paragraphs about this data entry experience.
What was easy or difficult about the process and how you think there might be a better way of collecting data (versus reading the report and entering it in excel).
Please read the instructions carefully. This is a data entry exercise and what you enter in your excel sheet depends on you as the Crime Analyst. Think about what makes a data set meaningful? What information would you need to record to create a data base that allows for data analysis?