20,000 Hours of Data Entry: Why We Didn’t Automate Our Data Collection
Looking back on a year of collecting COVID-19 data, here’s a summary of the tools we automated to make our data entry smoother and why we ultimately relied on manual data collection.
Dating Data: How We Used Multiple Dating Schemes to Provide the Most Complete Picture of the Pandemic
Throughout our year of tracking COVID-19 tests, cases, and outcomes, we were confronted with data organized by numerous dating schemes. Here’s how we came to understand those dating schemes, and the solution we developed for making the best of them.
How and Why The COVID Tracking Project Built a Screenshot System
A system for regularly capturing static images of state COVID-19 websites helped us produce an archive and verify our published data.
Behind The COVID Tracking Project’s Public Help Desk
Volunteers and staffers at The COVID Tracking Project replied to thousands of messages from the public last year. Here’s why we took the trouble, and here’s what people wanted to know.
How We Entered COVID-19 Testing and Outcomes Data Every Day for a Year
We set up a set of roles and a shift system to carefully gather and inspect the data we published.
(The Perils of) Automatically Collecting COVID Data
Automating data collection published by the states was an adventure full of trickery and misfortune.
Inside The COVID Tracking Project's Volunteer Organization
More than 800 volunteers performed thousands of hours of work to make our regular data operation possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Measuring Our Impact at The COVID Tracking Project
Our largely volunteer-operated effort became a critical data source for journalists, scientists, academics and government officials.
The Decisions We Made
Looking back at what made The COVID Tracking Project work.
