The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "variations" ...
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Terminology and Reporting About Illegal Immigration
This tipsheet discusses the wide variation across media about the terms used to address those \"who entered the U.S. without valid immigration documents or those who have overstayed their visas.\" Examples are given from different style guides.
Tags: undocumented workers; illegal immigrants; illegal aliens; immigration documents; AP stylebook; Wall Street Journal; Los Angeles Times
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Dissecting 990s
Kamb explains the 990 tax form that nonprofits must submit to the IRS in lieu of a tax return. He discusses who files them; variations of the form; resources for understanding them; your rights in requesting them; where to request a 990; and problems & limitations. He also includes a detailed comparison of the old vs. new 990 forms.
Tags: nonprofit; charity; tax form; tax-exempt; taxpayer bill of rights; Guidestar; Internal Revenue Service; IRS; transparency
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Essential Analysis: Data Integrity Checks
powerpoint presentation that reminds journalists what to check when they get data and shows how to look for dirty data using database managers or SPSS. also mentions extensive data documentation [and clean-up of dirty data] that IRE and NICAR include with the databases available from the Database library.
Tags: data; tables; documentary; file format; record layout; data dictionary; outliers; variations; dirty data; database manager; SPSS;
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Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: Working with new race/ethnicity categories
Paula Lavigne discusses how to use HMDA data to analyze lending variations by race and ethnicity. Lavigne discusses the recent changes in Race/ethnicity reporting requirements and how to best analyze the data.
Tags: HMDA: mortgage; lending; data analysis; race
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Bad Data Does Not Make Good Stories
If you think you're safe with federal election data as supplied by the FEC and most secondary suppliers, think again. One popular website runs lists of the Top 200 donors in each state. Variations in name cause the same company or individual to be listed more than once on a list. Companies that donate from more than one state are frequently found on more than one list. Watch for dirty data.
Tags: CAR