Data in Context: Strategies for Evaluating and Utilizing Existing Datasets for Research

Join us for a workshop designed to equip you with the skills to responsibly assess and use existing datasets for new research. Using the U.S. National Parks Visit Data as a real-world example, we will consider key issues in reusing data, including historical context, data collection methods, and ethical aspects of the dataset. This workshop will underscore the importance of documentation, provenance, and context in utilizing existing datasets for research, and participants will gain skills in evaluating data for reuse and suitability for their work. This presentation was part of the UC Love Data Week 2025 program (https://uc-love-data-week.github.io).