Lesson 5-3 explained: Open Data and APIs

Lesson summary

Open data comes from official providers (World Bank Open Data, UN Data) and platforms such as Kaggle, whose reliability varies; get it from a browser or through an API (often returning JSON); every dataset has terms of use to follow and a source to cite.

Takeaway: Pick a reliable open data source for your purpose (World Bank Open Data, UN Data, Kaggle), fetch by browser or API (client requests an endpoint; server returns JSON), and always follow the terms of use and cite the source.

Key terms

• World Bank Open Data
• API
• Endpoint
• JSON
• Terms of use
• Source citation

Textbook page: Arabic book 19 · English book 21

Free questions on this lesson

From the textbook question bank. Think of the answer first, then open it.

1. 1. What is open data?

   • Data sold only to large companies at high prices
   • Data made public for anyone to use, under its terms
   • Secret data that only the body that collected it can see
   • Data you collected yourself with a survey at school
   Answer

   Correct answer: Data made public for anyone to use, under its terms

   Open data is data made public for anyone to use, with a licence or terms that set what is allowed.

   1. Using Open Data · page 22

2. 2. In the first step of fetching data via an API, what happens?

   • The client sends a request to the endpoint
   • The server sends data without any request
   • The client deletes the old data
   • The server asks the client for data
   Answer

   Correct answer: The client sends a request to the endpoint

   ① The client (the user's program) sends a request to the API endpoint.

   3. Obtaining Data via APIs · page 22

3. 3. Which of these is NOT a suitable description of source citation?

   • With open data there is no need to cite the source
   • A source includes provider, name, date and URL
   • It lets others find and evaluate the data
   • Citing lets others verify the analysis
   Answer

   Correct answer: With open data there is no need to cite the source

   Citation is required even for open data, so the wrong statement is "no need to cite the source".

   Exercise · page 28

Lessons in this chapter 5: Data Collection and Cleaning

1. 5-1 Methods of Data Collection
2. 5-2 Data Cleaning and Transformation
3. 5-3 Open Data and APIs