{"product_id":"what-better-data-opens-joolim-lee-9798176475449","title":"What better data opens: Structure, Identification, and Spatial Causality for Urban Research","description":"Better data doesn't just add numbers. It opens the question every urban policy is really asking: what did it actually do? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eVolume 1, \u003ci\u003eStarting With What You Have\u003c\/i\u003e, showed what can be learned from the data a city already holds - and drew a firm line at claims of cause. This companion volume crosses that line, carefully.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt works through the designs that turn association into credible causal evidence: panels built from free satellite archives, difference-in-differences and staggered rollouts, matching, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, synthetic control, spatial regression, and the spillovers that urban interventions almost always produce. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvery method is tested on data where the true answer is known before the analysis is run. Naive estimates miss by as much as 213 per cent; the designs in this book recover the truth, most within five per cent - and every chapter states plainly which untestable assumption that result depends on. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this book, you will learn how to: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eDiagnose which causal designs your data can actually support, before you run a single regression\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eBuild a monthly urban panel from free satellite data, going back to 2012, for any city on earth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eEstimate treatment effects with difference-in-differences, staggered adoption, matching, and instrumental variables\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eUse regression discontinuity and synthetic control when no comparison group seems to exist\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eMeasure spillovers instead of assuming - by design - that they don't happen\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cli\u003eFollow every method in Python, with R equivalents and a no-code route through free software (GeoDa, QGIS, jamovi, gretl)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEach chapter follows the same structure: the concept explained twice, once in plain language and once with the mathematics; the identification assumption stated before the data; a full worked example with real code; and a section on what the design still cannot tell you. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWritten for readers beginning graduate study and for early-career researchers\u003c\/b\u003e - especially those who must work where data infrastructure is thin. No prior econometrics is assumed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAll code and data are open (MIT \/ CC0) at github.com\/leejoolim2\/what-better-data-opens. Every dataset is synthetic, built on real public schemas, with a known answer planted in it - so you can check your own analysis against the book's, not just trust it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat Better Data Opens\u003c\/i\u003e is Volume 2 in the Urban Research Methods series, following \u003ci\u003eStarting With What You Have\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joolim Lee\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798176475449\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/23\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 242\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.72lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.51d","brand":"Joolim Lee","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50780125430015,"sku":"9798176475449","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/what-better-data-opens-joolim-lee-9798176475449","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}