Examples of data in your job
Most of us will use data in some form to do our jobs. This could include:
- reporting to funders
- reviewing budgets
- measuring what Scouts does and what the impact of our work
- designing services
- evaluating services
- fundraising
- improving internal services
- influencing
- making decisions
It could look like: counting how many people engage or use a service, sending out surveys for feedback, interviewing people about how they do things, observing people, looking at population data from specific geographic areas or accessing Google Analytics. The list goes on…
What do we mean by data?
Data can come in different forms. It could look like numbers (quantitative data) or like words as in stories, quotes or descriptions (qualitative data).
- The numbers can tell you ‘how many’, ‘how much’, ‘how often’.
- The descriptions can help you answer the ‘whys’ and ‘hows.
Too much data is not a good thing
Most of us make the mistake of collecting too much data. This makes everything harder: it’s time consuming for your users to fill in, and the more data you have the trickier it is to actually make sense of it. Collect only what you need and what you intend to use.
Start with a question
To figure out what data you need to choose, you’ll need to start with what question you are looking to answer.
It might be you need to know what new service to deliver, or how and when to deliver it. Or perhaps you’re looking to measure how you’re doing against agreed outcomes and indicators. If you’re planning to use data to influence stakeholders, think about what questions they need to know.
Once you know what question you need to answer, you can look at what data you already have and what else you need to collect.
What type of data do I need to look at?
These six types of data all contribute to learning about the impact you and your organisation are making.
Image from https://good-data.co.uk
You should have a lot of these data sets internally, though you might not need all six to get a good understanding of how your users are using a service or the impact your service is having.
It’s worth having a chat with your colleagues to see which types of data you can access internally and which you can’t. That way you can work out which data you need to start collecting.
Where can I find external data?
A lot of data can be found externally now that many organisations are choosing to be more open with their data.
Here’s a list of publicly available data sources from Good Data.
It’s also worth considering whether any of your partners or colleagues might have relevant data you could use - you’ll need to make sure this is all done following GDPR guidelines.
I want to learn more about data - where can I start?
Scouts organised a two-part workshop for staff in 2022 on the topic of ’How to gather and make sense of your data’. It covered the following topics:
- what do we even mean by data?
- how data can help with decision making
- how do we know what data to collect and why?
- a run through of the best free/low cost online tools for data collection and analysis
- where to get readily available data sources
- making maps with data
- how to visualise data with free and low cost tools
There are lots of reasons to measure impact - here are just a few:
- we learn what’s gone well
- we learn what didn’t go so well - and what we need to change next time
- we can prove our progress
- we can ultimately improve what we’re doing each time
- we can show to funders and stakeholders that we’re actively improving, based on data
- to determine long-term impact on society through our work
Depending on what you’re trying to measure, you’ll need slightly different types of data.
I want to learn more about measuring value and performance - where can I start?
Now that you’ve looked at how to choose the right data and how to measure impact you’ll want to know how to present your findings in the best way.
Data is only useful if it helps you do something, such as:
- make decisions
- persuade budget holders or managers
- communicate why decisions are taken
- tell stories
- bring people along
- demonstrate reach and impact of your work
If you’re able to present data in an easy to understand and impactful way these jobs will become easier.
It’s worth thinking about who you’re presenting the data to, so that you can tailor it to them and their preferences.
What’s the main thing you want people to take away from your data? How can you highlight this to them?
Always a good idea to make sure you have the right tools and you know how to use them before staring a job.
At Scouts you have access to a range of tools:
- Collecting data
- Smartsheet forms
- Google Analytics
- Processing/making sense of data:
- Excel
- PowerBi
- Presenting data
- PowerPoint
- PowerBi
- Data Orchard has a data maturity test you can take to identify areas where you can improve
- Good Data website gives a list of places to turn to for help
- Put in a request on Digital Candle for a free 1 hour conversation with an expert