Day 2- Finding Local Data
This section highlights:
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Many local agencies and institutions, including schools, the police department, the public health department, hospitals, and a variety of social service agencies, collect community-related data. With so many records and reports available to you, planning is key to conducting an efficient search that produces information you can use to guide program selection.
A well-conceptualized plan can help you minimize potential roadblocks, and improves the likelihood that you will collect the information that you need to make informed decisions. The following section outlines a 10-step model that can help you identify the type of information you might look for and where to find it, along with some general guidelines to consider as you begin to collect information.
A 10-Step Model for Collecting Local Data
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Step 1: Find out what has already been done.
Step 2: Clarify your purpose.
Step 3: Define the scope of your search.
Step 4: Decide how much information you will collect.
Step 5: Choose appropriate indicators.
Step 6: Find reliable contacts.
Step 7: Determine your timeframe.
Step 8: Set a realistic timeline.
Step 9: Think about how you will share your findings.
Step 10: Write everything down!
| Make sure you have an advisory team comprised of school personnel and community members who can guide and participate in your search for local data. | Step 1: Find out what has already been done. A good place to start is the proposal written to the U.S. Department of Education to fund your position as a middle school coordinator, which should include an overview of local needs. Members of your advisory team may also know about any major assessment efforts in your community, or of other grants written by schools or youth-serving agencies that might include sections on community needs. |
Step 2: Clarify your purpose. Determine exactly what you need to find and where to begin your search. For example, if you want to find out about drug use patterns, you may want to begin your search by reviewing school records, police reports, and hospital discharge data, rather than census or economic data. Having said that, you should also be flexible about your ultimate focus; you may start by looking at youth substance abuse, but it may also be helpful to consider assessing substance abuse and violence among parents and other adults -- particularly if you see that the behavior of the two groups is closely related.
| Step 3: Define the scope of your search. After identifying your issues of interest, consider how deeply you will examine them. For example, will you limit your search for information about drug use to substances typically used by middle school students (e.g., alcohol and tobacco),or will you collect information on a wider variety of substances? | Some Sources of Local Data Education Statistics Crime Statistics Court Statistics Health Statistics Political Data Economic Data Demographic Data |
Golden Rule Don't spend more time researching a particular item of information than it's worth. If a particular piece of data eludes you, put it aside and move on! You can always return to it later. |
Step 4: Decide how much information you will collect. Too much information can be just as much of a problem as not enough. Obtaining more information than you can handle (much of which may be irrelevant) can waste valuable time and resources that could otherwise be devoted to different prevention activities. |
Step 5: Choose appropriate indicators. Most of the agencies and institutions identified in this section (see Sources of Local Data) supply indicator data. Indicator data reveal characteristics of a population (e.g., attendance rates for middle school students), a community (e.g., number of alcohol outlets within city limits), or a program (e.g., number of drug-related hospital admissions). Indicators can provide useful measures of risk for and rates of violence and substance use among youth in your community.
Factors to Consider When Selecting
Click here for more about issues to be aware of as you select indicators and search for information from local data sources. |
| Step 6: Find reliable contacts. Identify people who are familiar with agency data and ask for their help. With their assistance, you may be able to avoid potential problems, such as failing to discover changes in the definitions of indicators that may occur over time. These folks can also put you in contact with people you may want to have on your advisory team. | Questions to Ask Agency Staff It is helpful to develop a set of key questions that all of your researchers will use to request information from agency staff.Click here for some suggestions. |
Step 7: Determine your timeframe. Looking at information collected over an extended time period allows you to identify possible trends (i.e., whether the problem has remained unchanged, worsened, or improved over time). If you look at information from only one year, your picture of the overall problem will be incomplete and possibly inaccurate.
Step 8. Set a realistic timeline. Establish an endpoint for your information-gathering efforts, but keep in mind that collecting, compiling, and synthesizing data needs to be done annually to keep on top of trends.
| Consider how you will share the information you collect so that it mobilizes support for future efforts and leads to productive discussions about what should be done, rather than hysterical demands for immediate action. Click here for some tips on how to proceed. | Step 9. Think about how you will share your findings. Although you are collecting information for planning purposes, you may also want to make a public presentation of your findings in order to keep the school and community informed and promote buy-in for future prevention activities. Remember, once word gets out that you are collecting information (and it will) people will want to know what you found out and what it means. Make sure that you share your research findings with your school administrators before going public to the community. |
| Step 10. Write everything down!Your information-gathering strategies and experiences, when documented on paper, will facilitate ongoing communication with data sources and form a cohesive plan for conducting future searches. This record can be shared with collaborators and partners to ensure a streamlined, consistent approach to the collection of needs assessment information. | Keeping Track Once you begin collecting information, it is easy to lose track of what you have, what you still need, and what it all means. Make sure to create a system for storing and organizing your information. |
Obtaining Information
Most of the information you collect will be in the form of summary reports rather than the raw data collected by an agency or institution. These reports may not always break down the data as you might like (e.g., presenting information for all middle school students rather than males vs. females). However, you will typically find that reports are easier to work with than actual data. Dealing with raw data is complicated and time-consuming, and requires special equipment (e.g., statistical software packages) and skills.
Once you obtain the data summary reports, it may be tempting to accept them at face value without taking the time to critically examine their quality. However, the utility of your information depends on its relevance and accuracy, as well as your ultimate ability to compare different groups or the same group over time. Keep the following in mind in order to maximize the quality of your information:
Collect information from multiple sources. One source cannot tell the whole story. By using multiple data sources, you can confidently recognize complementary or confirming data, as well as inaccurate information, and are more likely to identify real problems facing your community.
Revise your research plan as needed. Carefully review the information you collect. Did you get the information you need, or are there gaps in your understanding of the needs among youth in your community?
Be critical. Check for information that seems illogical or inconsistent. When necessary, go back to the data source and ask for clarification.
Click here for additional issues to keep in mind as you examine your information. - Collect information from a variety of perspectives. Surveys of parents, administrators, teachers, and students are likely to yield different information about youth behavior. Each will contribute to your overall understanding of the needs of youth in your community and help you identify prevention priorities.
This completes today's work. Please visit the Discussion Area to share your thoughts about today's presentation! |
References
Assessing Community Needs and Resources. (2000). University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development and AHEC/Community Partners in Amherst, Massachusetts. Available online at http://ctb.ukans.edu/tools/EN/chapter_1003.htm.
Getting to Outcomes: Assess Needs (Spring, 2000). Rockville, MD: U.S. SAMHSA/CSAP's National Center for the Advancement of Prevention and Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies. Available online at http://www.preventiondss.org/.
Gruenewald, P. J., Treno, A. J., Taff, G., and Klitzner, P.J. (1997). Measuring Community Indicators: A Systems Approach to Drug and Alcohol Problems. Applied Social Research Methods (45). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Harding, W. (2000). Assessment: A Vital Preplanning Activity. Newton, MA: Northeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, Education Development Center, Inc.
Hatry, H. P. (1994). Collecting Data from Agency Records. In Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Witkind, B. R. and Altschuld, J. W. (1995). Planning and Conducting Needs assessments: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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