The Bigger Picture: Research and Analysis to Make Data Meaningful and Inform Action

by Kendrick Leong, Hawai‘i Data Collaborative

As the Research and Analysis Lead at Hawai‘i Data Collaborative (HDC), I work with local organizations to develop actionable insights, contribute to collective understanding, and develop strategies to better address household need. Part storytelling, part hypothesis development and testing, and part contextualization, our research and analysis support elevates actionable data insights from those working closest to an issue to make a real difference for non-profits, policy makers, and the people they serve.

Process: Going Beyond Systems Implementation

Many organizations see building data capacity as implementing, automating, or upgrading data management systems. When HDC engages with these organizations, however, the discussion often reveals that getting the tech in place is relatively straightforward, while the bulk of the effort lies in developing inquiries to align organizational values with on-the-ground work. 

Research and analysis, then, is the process of developing questions, collecting data, and making meaning with the data we have. Once salient questions are identified, analysis – summaries, mapping, and projections – can then make the data meaningful and usable. In this blog post, I share HDC’s research and analysis process that consists of five steps designed to operationalize and maximize the value of available data.

“...the effort lies in developing inquiries to align organizational values with on-the-ground work.”

1. Take time to ask the right questions - What do we want to know and why?

Meaningful questions yield meaningful answers. The questions that we seek to answer with data need to be measurable, with existing data to draw upon. Beyond that, questions need to be worth asking! Will the answer be valuable to the organization? To the community? In my work, I have seen that some folks are hungry for answers, and less interested in discussion and deliberation enriched by data. We seek partners who are asking tough questions, seeking to gain insight from data in new and  interesting ways. It’s the discussion through which these questions arise that is the starting point to using data meaningfully.

2. Gather existing data from public sources - What are the community givens?

HDC’s current focus – household need – already has a lot of publicly available research, metrics, and indicators to draw from. The goal of collecting this information is to better understand the community, the current landscape, and the current needs. Whether through surveys, the census, or on-the-ground knowledge, learning as much about a community, population, or challenge from existing data as possible helps better frame inquiries and test potential solutions.

3. Gather existing internal data - What do we already know?

Local organizations have a wealth of institutional knowledge from being of service and interacting with specific populations consistently over time. Adding to publicly available data, these organizations can draw from quantifiable as well as anecdotal internal data to fill in the gaps. In the past, it may not have been a priority to collect and document this kind of data, but organizations are now expressing a desire – if not a need – to utilize internal data to improve their operations and share actionable insights with community partners. 

4. Develop testable/measurable hypotheses - What are the goals, and how will we know if we meet them?

Creating a vision of where an organization or community wants to be in 5, 10, or 20 years provides a lens through which to view the initial inquiry, external data, and internal data. From there, HDC works with a partner organization to develop a pathway forward that has explicit, measurable metrics for success, based on what data is already available and what data can be collected. The goal is to ask questions, collect data, then develop a plan with incremental steps that has a direct and tangible impact on the organization’s mission and/or their daily operations.

5. Elevate the question, process, and results - Is the process replicable?

At HDC, we strive to ask questions and develop solutions that not only work for one partner organization one time, but can also be conducted again by the same organization and shared with other organizations doing similar work. When we complete a project with a partner, we’d ideally like to leave behind a  methodology that continues to be useful to the organization and learn something that can contribute to the working knowledge generation of the sector. Whereas academic research is designed to build upon an existing body of knowledge, we aim to bring research and analysis closer to those readily able to act on data insight.

Complex Solutions for Complex Challenges

The last step of the process – elevating and sharing process and results – points to one of the most important things that I want to share about research and analysis: you can’t get fundamental sources of knowledge from one analysis or one result. Data collection and analysis can’t exist in a vacuum and be accurate. At HDC, we’re looking at what all our partners are seeing to create a “data-driven mosaic” based on research questions, which are themselves based on sound data, observations, and methodology. The mosaic provides a holistic understanding of an issue, with each metric being one piece of the greater whole.

Complex challenges like household need encompass a myriad of factors and unique situations. While the questions can be phrased simply – “How do we make housing affordable in Hawai’i?” – the answers are neither straightforward nor simple. Instead, the answers involve addressing many interweaving factors. In other words, we can move individual pieces of the mosaic, but we can’t move the whole. And with each of these micro-moves, the potential results and interactions with other micro-moves are exponential. As a result, I focus on framing each partners’ data strategy within the context of the greater landscape. Our goal is to support organizations in understanding how their data and actions contribute to the whole, and how they can benefit and synergize with the data and actions of other organizations doing similar work.

Storytelling and Impact

The bottom line is we want to make decisions that make life better for Hawai‘i households. Lots of stories from folks aren’t being told where it can make a difference because there is no data. There are challenges in our community we all know about, but we need data for the story to be heard and changed. Ultimately, research and analysis allows us to humanize and make sense of the “data mosaic.” These stories, with the right data to support them, are powerful tools to inform and affect meaningful change. Having a sound methodology that keeps the bigger picture in mind ensures that an organization’s data efforts will yield tangible benefits internally, to the communities they serve, and to the sector as a whole.

If you have questions or are seeking support with research and analysis, please reach out to us at info@hawaiidata.org to learn more.