Wednesday, April 4, 2012

5 ways to use data

There is a lot of emphasis these days on basing decisions on data rather than on hunches or feelings. It's not only appropriate for better decision making but it is also easier than ever before because of spreadsheets and the web. But what data should you be collecting and for what purposes? Here are five fundamental ways to use data.

Comparison

• This year vs. last year
• Here vs. nationally
• Males vs. females

Time series: Change

• Trends
• Increasing or decreasing?
• Change after intervention

Pareto analysis: prioritize

• 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes
• Pareto analysis helps to identify those most important causes
• Who, what, where, when, why?

Correlation

• Are factors related?
• Be careful: correlation does not imply causation but people often mistakenly assume it does
• However, although it doesn't imply causation, it may be a strong clue to causation

Generalize from your data

• There is a huge amount of data on all sorts of subjects available online. If you collect data wisely, you can combine your data with existing data for much larger conclusions.
• Look at data from the government, professional organizations and promotional organizations to see how they classify their data. Collect your data with the same classifications, then you can link your data to theirs to extrapolate from your small study to their national or worldwide statistics for broader conclusions.

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