Data to Insight: Bridging the Gap with Data Literacy
We have unprecedented access to data, but what does it mean to be “data literate”? For those of us who arenʻt trained data scientists, how do we navigate, make meaning, and make choices in a “data-guided” way? According to Kendrick Leong, Research and Analysis Lead at Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative (HDC), data literacy starts with knowing where to find data and being able to discern if a source is reputable.
“As individuals, we’ve become so desensitized [to data] - people are now inherently suspicious about information. There is data to support the pros and cons of anything, so it becomes easy to only regard a data source as authoritative if we agree with it. This isn’t healthy,” reflects Leong. “What I want to share with people is that in the day-to-day, it’s all about finding data, assessing whether it’s trustworthy, and contextualizing it. Data isn’t intimidating if you have the tools to assess the pros and cons – the strengths and weaknesses – of any data set. Contextualization is key.”
The Data Literacy Sweet Spot
“The baseline for data literacy is technical skills – what to search, how to access and read the data table, understanding margin of error, understanding how to build a survey to get the right data, how to set up a database so people have access to the data they need. In looking for external data, Census data and Hawaii.PolicyMap are good places to start. There is a learning curve to using these tools, but they provide reliable granular geographical data that can be useful [across many sectors],” says Leong. Data becomes more valuable, however, when people go from gaining information to unlocking insight. Starting with reliable sources and understanding how the data was collected, insights come from digging deeper into how the information is related to experience, expectations, and other information sources.
HDC’s Kendrick Leong demonstrates how to navigate Census.gov.
Many organizations initially engage with data because they need a specific statistic for a grant or report. Leong suggests that the data literacy sweet spot is when folks go beyond pulling a number for a report to working with data in a way that spurs more questions. “What does the number bring up? How do I apply my experience to the number? How does the number apply to my experience? What’s surprising or unexpected about the number? I want people to be reflective and curious about data,” says Leong.
Building Data Capacity within an Organization
To date, much of HDC’s data capacity building work has been with individual organizations. When working with an organization one-on-one, Leong suggests starting with research methodology - honing an inquiry and reviewing the information organizations already have and are familiar with before looking for additional data. In order to gain further insight, organizations often need to look at data outside of their subject area to answer their questions. “New insights and approaches can reveal themselves when we look at the intersection of seemingly unrelated datasets,” says Leong. “It’s important for subject matter experts to remember that while they can learn a lot from data, they already know their field intimately. Starting from that foundation, experts can use the wealth of data from beyond their field to inform and contextualize their work at large.”
When working with an organization, Leong will share his process as an example of how to engage with, and make meaning from, data. Starting with an inquiry, he’ll demonstrate how to use data tools (like Hawaii.PolicyMap), share the questions that arise for him, and create a deliverable. By providing a template, Leong shows organizations how they can apply the process to their situation and inquiries. “Mapping how a data project takes shape allows organizations to orient around a specific question and see how all the skills and steps relate to each other,” says Leong.
This approach of empowering organizations to work with data stems from HDC’s initiative to offer multiplicative, rather than additive, data capacity support. Instead of simply doing the data work for an organization, Leong explains, “The time it takes to set up an organization to use data [strategically] and with purpose, with a plan in mind, yields more dividends than the hours I put in.”
Broadening Perspectives and Connecting the Dots
Finding hands-on ways to engage with data can help make analysis more meaningful and less conceptual.
Over the summer, the Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency reached out to HDC to host a professional development workshop on data analysis for their Climate Champions Program. “Structurally, I wanted to do something that was between one-on-one mentorship and a lecture format. Presentation of information is important, but so is involving people in activities that allow them to experience abstract data procedures in tangible ways. For example, creating charts based on dot sticker votes on a board makes the process real and accessible.”
In engaging with the climate champions’ work, Leong found inspiration in bridging the gap between natural science and social science. “A lot of climate champions are doing science work to better communities. It showed me that their disciplines and HDC’s focus on household need aren’t that different - we both do lots of hands-on work to [benefit communities], but our unit of analysis is the household or individual and theirs is the ecosystem or watershed. The scientists were already well versed in how to access and analyze natural science data, and exposing them to social science data sources allowed them to contextualize the work they’re doing.” Leong continued, “The health of our communities is intimately tied to the health of the places where we live,” and data helps us understand that better.
If you have questions or are interested in developing a data literacy workshop for your organization, please reach out to us at info@hawaiidata.org to learn more.
