In the last few months, Data Wednesday has covered all of the basics you need to know when using our Federal Priorities Database.

We’ve covered so much ground, in fact, that it’s time for Data Wednesday to go on a hiatus. However, NPP would be more than happy to entertain specific database questions in our new You Ask, We Answer blog feature.

Below is a complete list of the topics we’ve covered in Data Wednesday. Thanks for reading, and be sure to get in touch if there’s something else you’d like to know.

Searching the ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to NPP’s Federal Priorities Database. All previous posts are archived here.

Back in February, we introduced data normalization. The bottom line: it’s hard to compare data across time and geographies accurately unless that data is normalized. In general, normalizing involves dividing “raw” data by a meaningful denominator. The unemployment rate, for example, is calculated by taking the total number of unemployed and dividing it by the number of people in the labor force.

The Federal Priorities Database presents normalized data whenever possible. A ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to NPP’s Federal Priorities Database. All previous posts are archived here.

Two weeks ago, Data Wednesday used percentages to introduce normalization. This week’s post takes a look at per capita, another type of normalization.

As an example, consider this map of FY 2010 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) spending.

Using the map’s legend, you can quickly see that California and Texas got the most funding. Not surprising, since those states have the most people.

We can better compare food stamp spending ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to NPP’s Federal Priorities Database.  All previous posts are archived here.

When looking at data, you may hear or read the phrase normalization. Simply put, normalization is transforming a set of data so that they may be compared in a meaningful way. Still sounds geeky? Although you may not realize it, you use normalized data all the time.

A common example is unemployment numbers. Knowing the total number of unemployed people in an area is interesting, but it isn’t enough information to compare ...

To date, Data Wednesday has focused on the mechanics of using NPP’s Federal Priorities Database—a collection of information we’ve pulled from many, many government agencies and compiled into an easy-to-use search tool.

Beginning next week, we’ll focus less on how-to and more on the concepts important to making sense of our data. What is per-capita, and why is it important? How can you compare indicators and expenditures?

In the meantime, here’s a cheat sheet of what we’ve covered so far.  Give yourself a review session, and we’ll meet you back here next Wednesday ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to NPP’s Federal Priorities Database.  All previous posts are archived here.

A post from a few weeks ago showed one way to share the results of a database search. In that example, you grab a hyperlink that goes right to the Federal Tax Collections data, which can then be shared via e-mail and social media.

If you have your own website, another way to share information from the Federal Priorities Database is to embed the interactive map right into a web page. After you ...

Earlier this week, National Priorities Project released Federal Money on the Rise in Florida, Nevada, a look at the role of federal money in the states.  Just a few of our findings:

For every dollar of revenue in the Florida state budget in 2010, 35 cents came from the federal government.

In 2010, the average Floridian paid about $5,500 in federal taxes and received about $6,600 in direct federal assistance, such as unemployment compensation or Social Security benefits.

Nevada residents paid slightly more in federal taxes than they received in direct federal assistance.

We’ll be putting more ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to NPP’s Federal Priorities Database.  All previous posts are archived here.

So you’ve run a great search in the database, and now you want to share the information. For example, you want to show your friends the Federal Tax Collections data so they can see the federal tax dollars paid by people and businesses in their state.

You could certainly send them to the Search the Database page, tell them to pick the Federal Tax Collections indicator, and have them press the Map ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, a getting-started guide to our Federal Priorities Database. All previous posts are archived here.

During past weeks, we’ve been working with state-level data; however, NPP has county-level data too. County-level data is a great way to understand how federal spending impacts local areas.

County-level information isn’t available for everything in the Federal Priorities Database. The easiest way to find it is to use an Advanced Search (don’t worry—it’s easy):

Visit the Create Your Own Search screen.

Click the Advanced Search checkbox.

You’ll ...

This is the latest entry in NPP’s weekly Data Wednesday series, intended to introduce new users to our Federal Priorities Database.  All posts are archived here.

In the last few weeks, we’ve discussed how to search NPP’s Federal Priorities Database and how to view your search results in map form and table form. But what if you’d like to download the data and use it for your own project?

It’s easy to move data out of the Federal Priorities Database and onto your own computer.  After you run a search, look for the Download box ...