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Data Analysis

How do we analyze all of the data we have collected?

Once you have collected indicator data, it is time to analyze the data. Your data analysis will assist you in identifying which risk and protective factors need to be prioritized in your community action plan, as well as provide justification for grant applications, support existing policies and programs, and assist you in selecting new prevention programs to implement. The following are questions that need to be asked of the data:

(Excerpt from Communities That Care training manual.)

1. What do the raw data tell you? At first glance, what do the data tell you? Do the raw numbers impress you as being low? Average? High? Any red flags?
2. How do the data compare to previous years? Is there a trend? By comparing numbers for previous years, you can begin to get a picture of how the data has been changing over time. Is it increasing? Decreasing? Staying the same? How have trends changed in relation to population changes?
3. How do our data compare with other similar data (national, state, county, etc.)? Are the trends similar? Are the rates about the same? Are they going up or down?
4. What can be interpreted from the data? After reviewing the raw data, the data trends, and the data comparisons (if available), what can you interpret from your analysis? What is happening? Do you know why it is occurring? What could have caused the trend? What does the observed level or trend tell you about this risk or protective factor? What other factors or events could account for the data?
5. Are there relationships among risk factors that you can identify based on the data you have? Examine your data across risk factors and across protective factors.
6. Should you prioritize this risk factor? The more information obtained about the indicator data, the easier this question will be to answer. See next step.

Next Step: Prioritizing Risk Factors