<p>I am trying to figure out where the line is for acceptable questions about sources of data and what is the best way to deal with such questions. In my mind, this is a special case of data collection queries, and constitutes "practical, answerable questions based on actual problems". For example, the GIS stackexchange folks seem perfectly happy to answer such questions, but that is a niche area and not all questions could be redirected there. There are also many data source questions where issues of sampling and estimation seem relevant (where can I find block level data on consumer expenditures or ACS vs long form census). There are also questions about comparing potential data sources where folks on this forum have substantial amount of domain expertise that would be valuable and cannot be found elsewhere. Finally, I have not found links to zanran and infochimps to be particularly helpful in my own searches. </p>
