Telling Stories with Numbers Secondary data collection, presentation, and interpretation

Transcription

1 10/10/2013 Telling Stories with Numbers Secondary data collection, presentation, and interpretation Vincent Adams Coordinator, Rural Communities Explorer Oregon State University 1 Getting an overview of the social landscape Dependent on researcher and stakeholder interests Usefulness of a quantitative overview 1

2 Why Community Data? INDICATORS AND BENCHMARKS 3 Getting an overview of the social landscape Requires essentially 3 initial decisions Topic(s) of interest Geography of interest Data source(s) 3 main requirements for analysis Extracting the data Formatting the data Interpreting the data 2

3 Topics... Pop. Change over time Race/Ethnicity Education Income Employment Crime Political engagement Health/Mortality Prevalence of farming Proximity to various resources/people Housing Family structure Poverty/Income Age structure Geography... Units: Nation State County Census tract/block Community Comparisons or just one unit? Coos County CT 1.00 CT 2.00 CT

4 Data Availability Topic/Geographic Specificity Extracting the data we want... Many formats:.pdf,.xls,.csv,.jpg,.doc, or whatever else makes sense Tricks of the trade:.pdf converters Student workers Copy paste! Don t key data! 4

5 Getting it presentable... Use Excel or other database program Calculate percentages or rates Make charts, graphs, data tables, etc. Telling the story... Interpretation requires: Knowing the unit of analysis Understanding the accuracy of the data Understanding what the data mean and imply (Is that change in population due to migration or rate of increase?) Understanding the strengths and limitations of the stats 5

6 Telling the story... Discuss trends across space, time, or groups of people Relate trends across different variables to each other Pick out surprising figures usually after comparing them to another place Where to get the data... Tabular Maps 6

7 American Factfinder 2 Pros: Reliable data Many, many topics Small geographic units Cons: Difficult interface Data variety can be overwhelming Interpretation is labor intensive City Data Pros: Easy interface Many, many topics (usually) Plenty of data visualization Cons: Data reliability questionable Poorly organized output Some small communities not covered 7

8 Headwaters Economics EPS HDT Headwaters Economics EPS HDT Pros: Reliable data Many, many topics Very nice report output!!! Adobe Acrobat Document Cons: Runs in MS Excel; geo download is clunky Doesn t do census tracts/blocks Geo selection can be confusing 8

9 Rural Communities Explorer Pros: Very easy interface Reliable data Many, many topics Small geographic units Cons: Only Oregon and Siskiyou County No report output Interpretation isn t always obvious On the Map Pros: Reliable data Many, many topics Small geographic units Cons: Tricky interface Only workforce and employment No interpretation 9

10 Atlas of Rural and Small Town America /atlas.htm#map Pros: Reliable data Many, many topics Easy interface Cons: Only county level No interpretation No customization Nice output Telling Stories with Numbers: 20 10

11 Telling Stories with Numbers: 21 Numbers by themselves tell us nothing. Measurements taken over time give us information. Information understood in context is knowledge. Good decisions are based on knowledge, not just data. Peggy Holstedt, Associate Director of Board Development and Policy Services, Oregon School Boards Association (paraphrased) 11

12 10/10/2013 Vincent Adams Coordinator, Rural Communities Explorer Phone Rural Communities Explorer Oregon Communities Reporter Tool