1. What dataset will you use for your final report?
For my final report, the dataset I will be using will be on the Residential Care Facilities in B.C., published by the Ministry of Health, Seniors Services Branch.
2. Describe the dataset. What kind of data does it contain?
The dataset that I chose is from the B.C. government's open data portal and is in spreadsheet format CSV. It specifically contains both publicly subsidized and private paid residential care facilities within our province, it's street address, the city it's located in, it's postal code and their phone number. In the dataset description, it mentions how this data is intended to provide assistance to families searching for all types of care under the residential care regulation and that the dataset is updated biweekly.
3. Is there anything about your data that you don't understand? How will you find this out?
At first, when I opened the raw data in spreadsheets, there were many additional columns that I was confused about. After I cleaned the data up a bit and removed the unnecessary columns (longitude, latitude, etc.), the data started to make more sense and was less overwhelming to look at. One of the columns I'm still confused about would be "column H: Inspection_URL." I'm not sure if that means records of previous inspections and I'm wondering what is included in their inspections. To find this out, I will click the URLs provided and make notes on if each inspection are based off of the same criteria and from there I'll be able to see if it will be important to my data analysis. There is also a column labelled "hospice," which is a word that I'm not familiar with so I will have to do my own research on what that is, for me to understand the data fully.
4. What are some question you hope to answer with your data? List at least three.
- Which municipality within B.C. has the most residential care facilities available?
- Which municipality within B.C. has the least amount of residential care facilities available?
- How many facilities help people with mental health issues or substance use issues?
- Are the number of facilities available per city, linked to the population of the area?
- Are the facilities mostly located in quieter areas of a city or busier areas of a city with more traffic?
