This resource corresponds to Module 2.
Some data sets may have collection or quality
issues that will affect your ability to obtain useful data. In some
cases, you can overcome these barriers by working with the data providers
(or your evaluator) to reconfigure the data in ways that meet your
needs. In other cases, you simply may not be able to use the data
or will need to keep their limitations in mind when drawing conclusions
based on the data. Caveats about data limitations, and its possible
consequences for your analysis, should be included in data reports.
Common barriers to obtaining useful data include the following:
- Data may be aggregated.
Hospitals, for example, often combine adult and youth data
or data across several communities. This can be frustrating
if you are seeking information about youth in your town. The
agency may be able to sort the data for you.
- Jurisdictions may overlap.
For example, the jurisdiction boundary of your local police
department may not correspond to that of the school district.
A trauma center may draw patients from across your state.
- Time periods may be inconsistent or too
short. Data from one agency may be organized by calendar
year, another by fiscal year, and another by school year. The
data may not be current enough or collected for a long enough
time to track trends accurately.
- Data may be missing or incomplete.
Information included in agency records and local data sets
is often missing or incomplete. If the amount of missing data
is large, the data may not provide an accurate picture of your
community. This is especially true if some information is consistently
missing, such as records from a particular school district
or police precinct. Or, a failure to consistently record data
(such as age or blood alcohol content) may make it impossible
for you to analyze the data in ways that are useful for your
efforts.
- Data categories may not meet your
needs. For example, sub-categories such as race
or ethnicity are not always determined or implemented consistently
across organizations.
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