Login -> Filter/Select -> Preview -> Export

This is the standard workflow for creating a research dataset from Ecodata. The goal is to avoid downloading overly broad data, missing metadata, or selecting indicators that do not match the research unit.

Step 1. Login

1. Open the Ecodata application.
2. Sign in with your account.
3. Check your account permissions: free accounts can usually preview or export limited data; paid accounts have broader full-export permissions.
4. Go to the right module: Dashboard for global indicators, GSO for Vietnam statistics, Customs for trade data, Survey/VHLSS for survey data, or Stocks for listed firms.

tip

If you are unsure which source to use, open AI Chat and describe your research question first. Example: "I want to study the effect of FDI on provincial GDP growth in Vietnam from 2010 to 2023. Which indicators should I select?"

Step 2. Filter and Select

In Dashboard, filter indicators by:

Filter	When to use it
Keyword	When you know an indicator name, code, topic, or term such as GDP, inflation, trade, or FDI.
Category	When browsing by macro, finance, labor, trade, population, or governance topics.
Source	When limiting results to World Bank, IMF, OECD, ADB, GSO, Customs, or another source.
Frequency	When your model needs annual, quarterly, or monthly data.
Year range	When you need enough observations for a specific research period.
Completeness	When you want indicators with fewer missing values.
Favorite	When saving indicators you often reuse.

Open each indicator card to inspect definition, coverage, frequency, completeness, citation, and related indicators. Select an indicator only after the metadata fits your research design.

Step 3. Preview

Preview helps verify data before export. Check:

1. Whether the data covers the correct countries, provinces, firms, commodities, or other entities.
2. Whether the start and end years are sufficient for the model.
3. Whether measurement units are consistent, such as current USD, constant USD, percent, index, VND, or USD.
4. Whether important years or entities have too many missing values.
5. Whether metadata includes source, citation, methodology, and notes.

Preview is especially important for GSO, Customs, Macro Survey, and VHLSS Micro because these sources have multiple data dimensions and units of analysis.

Step 4. Use Supporting Tools

Before the final download, users can use:

Tool	Role
AI Chat	Suggest indicators, check dependent and explanatory variables, and propose alternatives when coverage is incomplete.
Econometrics	Run preliminary OLS, WLS, GLS, panel, VAR, ARIMA, Logit, or Probit models.
Indicator details	Read metadata, citation, related indicators, and quality notes.
Export preview	Inspect sample rows and table structure before downloading.

Step 5. Export

Before exporting, define:

1. Selected indicators.
2. Countries, country groups, provinces, firms, commodities, or other entities.
3. Year range.
4. Output table structure.
5. Whether metadata should be included.

caution

The frontend may show several export labels, while the backend controls preview and full export through API permissions and the full export worker generates a professional workbook. User-facing guidance should describe the tested production behavior, not only UI labels.

Pre-Download Checklist

• The research question defines dependent variables, explanatory variables, and unit of analysis.
• Indicators have enough coverage.
• Metadata has been reviewed and saved.
• Preview shows no obvious unit, geography, or missing-data issue.
• If modeling is planned, the indicator set has been checked in Econometrics or AI Chat.