News & Updates
Working With Census Data Today
Many of us look to “Census data” to better understand the circumstances of households and communities in Hawai‘i. In his work to provide research and analysis support to local organizations, Kendrick Leong, Hawai‘i Data Collaborative’s Research & Data Analysis Lead, often helps teams reference several different Census products depending upon their specific need. Following the onset of the pandemic, Kendrick has also helped organizations understand and navigate the limitations of Census data for understanding circumstances today. In this post, Kendrick distinguishes some of the more popular Census data products, runs through what you need to know to work with them, and lays out some important limitations of using Census data today.
Not All Are Created Equal: Evaluating Data Quality
When working to answer a research question or add support to our intuition, it is necessary to assess the quality of our data. Poor data often can be worse than no data, leading to flawed interpretations and misinformed decisions. An important disclaimer here is that most data has flaws and thus limitations. The key is to consider the data in the context of our question (hence why critiquing our assumptions and understanding the full picture of the broader problem is so important) while also weighing the flaws. By doing this, we are able to better anticipate the utility and limitations of the conclusions we draw from the data. In order to evaluate data quality, consider the following characteristics…