Hello, AEA365 community! Liz DiLuzio here, Lead Curator of the blog. This week is Individuals Week, which means we take a break from our themed weeks and spotlight the Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources and Lessons Learned from any evaluator interested in sharing. Would you like to contribute to future individuals weeks? Email me at AEA365@eval.org with an idea or a draft and we will make it happen.
Hello! I am Kavita Mittapalli, Ph.D. I own a K-16 research and evaluation firm, MN Associates, Inc. (MNA) just outside Washington DC metropolitan area. I founded MNA in 2004 as a graduate student at George Mason University. I have a Ph.D. in Research Design and Methodology in Education. We are a team of five evaluators and an administrative staff with a combined 65 years of experience conducting a wide variety of social science and STEM education research and evaluation projects across the country.
Does this scenario sound familiar?
Client: “Our data is finely crafted, each thread representing a different facet. It’s a beautiful blend of paper and online surveys, digital forms, Excel and CSV files, and PDFs with intricate form fields. We have made it easy for you to analyze it this year.”
Reality: Unraveling this metaphor revealed a more complicated situation, resembling not a neatly woven tapestry, but rather a diverse collection of threads waiting to be seamlessly integrated.
In today’s data-informed (or triggered in some cases) world, organizations often find themselves managing a confluence of data formats. The presence of paper surveys, digital forms, and various file types like Excel and PDFs can present a considerable challenge in maintaining data integrity, coherence, and one’s sanity.
Hot Tips
Here’s a systematic approach to address this multi-threaded data scenario:
- Unified Framework: Establish a unified framework for data collection, storage, and organization. This involves categorizing data into distinct types and assigning standardized metadata.
- Digital Transformation: For paper surveys and forms, consider a digital transformation strategy. This involves converting physical documents into digital formats, allowing for easier integration and analysis.
- Data Normalization: Normalize data across different formats like Excel and CSV files. Ensure consistency in data types, formats, and units to facilitate seamless data processing.
- PDF Parsing Tools: Utilize advanced PDF parsing tools to extract and organize data from PDFs with forms. This ensures that crucial information is extracted accurately and can be integrated into the broader dataset.
- Quality Assurance: Implement robust quality assurance processes to identify and rectify inconsistencies in the data. This includes validation checks, error handling, and regular audits.
- Data Governance: Establish clear data governance policies to regulate the collection, storage, and usage of data. This ensures that data is treated as a valuable asset, and its quality is maintained throughout its lifecycle.
The metaphorical ‘cake’ of diverse data can be transformed into a cohesive and insightful (read, usable) dataset through some strategic planning and implementation. It’s not about discarding the ingredients, but rather refining and harmonizing them to create a foundation for informed decision-making.
Rad Resources
- Developing data standards: This resource from The Federal Enterprise Data Resources shares tips on how to create data standards
- Data management topics: This resource from Oregon State University shares key topics and considerations for a variety of different data management areas
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