Journalists don’t do math? In an age of open data, that’s an excuse that no longer flies.  The list below, compiled from the smart people on the NICAR listserv thanks to a request from The Associated Press’ Michelle Minkoff, contains resources to help you get started with the basics of statistics and data analysis.

1. “New Precision Journalism” by Phillip Meyer (Book)

“The New Precision Journalism” shows journalists and students of journalism how to use the new technology to analyze data and provide more precise information in easier-to-understand form. It covers the history of journalism in the scientific tradition, various elements and techniques of data analysis, the use of statistics, computers, surveys, and field experiments, database applications, how to do an election survey, and the politics of precision journalism. This is an important resource for working journalists and an indispensable text for all journalism majors.

2. ”How to Lie with Statistics” by Darrell Huff (Book)

 Darrell Huff runs the gamut of every popularly used type of statistic, probes such things as the sample study, the tabulation method, the interview technique, or the way results are derived from the figures, and points up the countless number of dodges which are used to fool rather than to inform.

In this project-based course, you will have the opportunity to answer a question that you feel passionately about through independent research based on existing data. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills in generating testable hypotheses, preparing data for analysis, conducting descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and presenting research findings.

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Code With Me — the traveling two-day workshops that teach journalists the basics of HTML, CSS and javascript — is making its way to Portland, Ore. in May, and deadline to apply is tomorrow night.

This is the third and largest yet workshop organized by ProPublica’s Sisi Wei and The New York Times’ Tom Giratikanon. In August, they hosted a workshop in Washington, D.C. and went to Miami in February.  May’s workshop will bring together mentors and students from the Pacific Northwest region — including Seattle, where I’m located.

Wei and Giratikanon’s style of teaching is one of the most effective I’ve seen for programming yet — it’s a 2:1 student:mentor ratio, meaning individual attention and a closer, freer environment for asking questions without leaving the whole group behind. As someone who has both trained large groups of students and tried to take larger instructive workshops to learn, the only way that really sticks is one-on-one.

This program is truly for beginners.  Here’s the applicant eligibility criteria:

• You must be a journalist or a student studying journalism
• You must have little or no coding experience

If you know anyone in the Pacific Northwest — or someone who is willing to travel to Portland — spread the word. Deadline to apply is April 6 at 9:00 p.m. PST.   If you can’t make it to Portland but know your town would be perfect for an event like this, email the team.

Extend your social media impact and collaborate with experts in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp. Save $100 with our early bird rate. Don’t miss out — this special rate ends tomorrow.

Each week, we’ll discuss essential topics with social media thought leaders that will help you develop a cohesive marketing strategy and amplify your presence across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. Read more

In a fellowship-meets-hackathon type model that aims to grow the pool of people doing news application development in U.S. newsrooms, ProPublica is inviting news developers into their offices for a few days each month. The program is called ProPublica’s Pair Programming Project — P5 for short — and applications are open now.

P5 will accept one resident per month to go to New York City for an opportunity to work with some of the best news apps developers in the business.  They’ve won two Pulitzer prizes for their reporting, both of which had heavily data-involved and interactive storytelling attached.

People who are already proficient programmers and are working at a news organization are preferred for the program.  Though there will be some learning and mentorship involved, this residency isn’t for you if you don’t already know how to code. If you don’t have your own project in mind, worry not — you can work on one of ProPublica’s projects.

If you’re interested, you can get more information  on ProPublica’s site. If your skills aren’t up to snuff, maybe think about nudging a traditional engineer or IT person in your newsroom to apply.

All the copy editing skills you need rolled into one incredible online learning event. Join us for our 4-week Copy Editing 101 online conference and event starting March 6, 2013. We’ll show you how to launch a career as a copy editor.

Each week, watch and interact with our keynote speakers through live webcasts. Group discussion, peer interaction, and homework assignments will give you the confidence to take on copy editing as a career and land work. Speakers include Jack Murnighan (content director for Babble) and Constance Hale (author, Vex, Hex, Smash, and Smooch). Early registration rates are available now, so sign up soon.