API 209MATH CAMP 2026
FIELD GUIDE/ DATASETS
SOURCEWORLD BANK WDI
YEARS2000-2022
UNITCOUNTRY-YEAR

FIELD GUIDE 02

One dataset, four paths.

Start from the same documented country-year file, then choose a policy question that gives the coding work a purpose.

FROZEN BASELINE

Begin from a common reference point.

The default dataset is a teaching snapshot built from the World Bank World Development Indicators API. It reduces setup friction while retaining real missingness, revisions, uneven time coverage, and policy-relevant variables.

FileShapeUse
Wide CSVOne country-year per row; indicators in columns.Default lessons and analysis.
Long CSVOne country-year-indicator per row.Reshaping and indicator comparisons.
Indicator dictionaryOne indicator per row.Codes, names, units, and tracks.
Build scriptReproducible R source.Rebuild or update the files.
FROZEN DOES NOT MEAN TRUE FOREVER

The 2022 endpoint gives the class a shared baseline. Official historical values may later be revised. The update lab treats those revisions as something to detect and document.

SELECT ONE TRACK

Four questions, one learning sequence.

  1. 01Health: How is national income associated with under-five mortality, and how does the pattern differ across income groups?
  2. 02Gender: Where do female secondary enrollment and adolescent fertility move together, and where do countries depart from the overall pattern?
  3. 03Access: Which countries closed gaps in electricity and internet access most quickly, and which gaps remain?
  4. 04Climate: How do renewable electricity, carbon intensity, and economic growth vary together across countries and time?

These are descriptive and associational questions. The dataset alone does not identify causal effects.

NINE INDICATORS

Codes are part of the evidence.

TrackIndicator codePlain-language role
HealthNY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KDGDP per capita, purchasing-power adjusted.
HealthSH.DYN.MORTUnder-five deaths per 1,000 live births.
GenderSE.SEC.ENRR.FEFemale secondary enrollment, gross percent.
GenderSP.ADO.TFRTBirths per 1,000 women ages 15-19.
AccessEG.ELC.ACCS.ZSPopulation with access to electricity.
AccessIT.NET.USER.ZSPopulation using the internet.
ClimateEG.ELC.RNEW.ZSRenewable share of electricity output.
ClimateEN.GHG.CO2.RT.GDP.PP.KDCarbon intensity of economic activity.
ClimateNY.GDP.PCAP.KD.ZGAnnual real GDP per capita growth.

Use the downloadable dictionary for official names, exact units, and source notes.

OPTIONAL HIGH CEILING

Extend to the latest available year.

Students who want a larger challenge can supervise an agent-assisted rebuild from the official API. Write a new dated file, preserve the frozen baseline, test the country-year key, and compare new observations with revisions to older observations.

NON-NEGOTIABLES
Official source only.
New dated output.
No overwrite of the frozen baseline.
Indicator code and unit preserved.
Retrieval date recorded.
Unique keys tested.
Historical revisions reported separately from new years.