Featured article · June 2026 · Vol. 1 No. 2
Using secondary data to engage learners in researching social issues
The case of the CR2 Climate Explorer and water scarcity
Authors
In brief
Drought and water scarcity are routinely confused, yet they have different causes: drought has a natural origin, while water scarcity follows from how water is used. Working with open data from Chile's CR2 Climate Explorer, the authors show how learners can tell the two apart for themselves, following the statistical research process from question to communication using streamflow and precipitation records for Petorca.
“We should understand the phenomena that affect us globally through the critical interpretation of data, while simultaneously gathering local evidence.”
What the article covers
- Three kinds of investigative question, summary, comparison and association, worked through on the same dataset.
- Forty years of streamflow for the Petorca, Pedernal and Sobrante rivers, and what their divergence after 2006 implies about human intervention.
- A correlation of 0.70 between annual precipitation and streamflow: strong, imperfect, and leaving room for other causes.
- Why data cleaning belongs in the classroom rather than being done for students in advance.
Read the article
Pages 14–18 of Vol. 1 No. 2, June 2026. Free to read, no registration.
How to cite
Francisca Ubilla, Valentina Giaconi, Raúl Valenzuela and Felipe Ruz. “Using secondary data to engage learners in researching social issues.” vISIon: The ISI Magazine Vol. 1 No. 2, June 2026, pp. 14–18.