Dabbling in the Data: A Hands-On Guide to Participatory Data Analysis

Many quality improvement trainings either ignore data interpretations or offer limited guidance about how to dig into the data. This means that whoever speaks up first sets the agenda for the group—hardly a rigorous or fruitful process. Educators and children and youth professionals are increasingly interested in utilizing data to support continuous quality improvement, but few resources are available to help practitioners know what to do. Furthermore, many youth development professionals have limited experience working with data and may even consider themselves “not math people.”

Dabbling in the Data presents field-tested ways for teams to make meaning of data, including refreshers on key concepts for rigorous analysis techniques. These collaborative, team-centered activities teach how to analyze data in a meaningful way, engaging the group in rich discussions to interpret the data. More importantly, Dabbling helps teams determine how to respond to what they find. Dabbling in the Data provides step-by-step guidance on 15 different approaches, organized into five sections: distribution, change over time, contribution, categories, and communicating findings.

(Summary reprinted with slight modifications from http://www.publicprofit.net/Dabbling-In-The-Data)