The Information Creation Process: Exploring Data Sources and Aggregators

In this activity, students will examine and interact with two economic data websites—FRED®, of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)—to develop their understanding of the information creation process using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an example. Students will learn about differences between data aggregators and data sources and the capabilities and constraints of each in pre senting economic data. They will then create and edit graphs in FRED® by creating their own stacking area graph of GDP and its components. Finally, students will be asked to reflect on how different presentations of data can affect understanding of economic concepts.