Just Give Me the Facts: Using Data to Strengthen Collaborative Marketing

Julie SharpeFamily Connection ConferenceOctober 2005

Workshop Overview• Where to Find Data

• Data Pitfalls and Pointers

• Using Data to Market Your Collaborative

Why Data Are Important

• Value what is measured

• Tracking trends and changes

• Frame issues

• Decision making

• Telling the story

• Making it personal

-for more info on messaging…Frameworksinstitute.org ;

Data on Children and Families

• National

• State

• Local

• Program

National: KIDS COUNT

• A national and state-by-state effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

• Tracks the status of child well-being in the U.S. through reporting current and credible data.

National: KIDS COUNT

• Seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children.

• Publishes an annual Data Book, issues annual state rankings of child well-being, and provides an interactive database atwww.gafcp.org/kidscount

National: Federal Sources

• U.S. Census −Decennial Census www.census.gov

−American Community Survey: reliable and timely demographic, socioeconomic, and housing data.

• Child Indicators − www.childstats.gov published by the Federal

Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. National compilation only, no state data given.

National: Federal Sources

• Surveys − SLAITS: ongoing telephone survey that screens

nearly one million households per year to provide comparative data across the States and the Nation. Recent surveys include children’s health, special health care needs, asthma, early childhood health. www.cdc.gov/nchs/slaits.htm

− YRBS: Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. Not used much in Georgia so data of limited use. www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm

National: Nonprofit / Public Policy Organizations

• CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development) Assets and Opportunities. Ranks 50 states on 31 outcome indicators in areas of financial security, business development, homeownership, health care, and education. www.cfed.org

• Child Trends. Trend data for national indicators in areas of health, social and emotional development; income, assets, and work; education and skills; demographics; and family and community. www.childtrendsdatabank.org

State: Georgia KIDS COUNT

• Measures how children and families are faring in the state.

• Includes national, state, and county-level data, as well as Census data by legislative districts.

• Represents the largest compilation of the most current and reliable available data from a variety of sources in Georgia.

State: Georgia KIDS COUNT

• Tracks progress across five result areas:−Healthy Children−School Readiness−School Success−Stable Self-sufficient Families−Strong Communities

Local and Program

• Can talk about process (how many served, how many classes, how many health fairs held, etc.)

• Results or outcomes often harder to communicate about in the short term. Many of the outcomes require long-term tracking and patience. Talk about short-term gains – improvement in school attendance, gains in knowledge.

Local and Program

• Subcounty data. Census bureau tracks, neighborhood data, polling precinct data, particular school district data.

• Locally developed indicators. For example, curriculum specific assessments.

Data Pitfalls and Pointers: Basic Concepts• Population: all persons of a

particular type. Infants = all persons under the age of 1; children = all persons under the age of 18.

• Sample: subset of a population, usually intended to be representative of larger group.

• Ratio: relationship between two numbers. One teacher and 12 students in the class, the ratio is 1 to 12.

Data Pitfalls and Pointers: Basic Concepts• Rate: how common the occurrence of an

event is in the population being studied. Rates enable comparisons among localities and comparisons in one locality over time. Rates often expressed as per 1,000; per 10,000; or per 100,000.

• County population of teen girls ages 15-17 = 1382.

• 53 live births to teen girls in the county in 2004.

• 53/1382 x 1000 = county teen birth rate of 38.3/1,000.

• There were 38 births for every 1,000 girls ages 15-17 in 2004 in our county.

Data Pitfalls and Pointers: Basic Concepts• Percent: rate per 100. County live births in 2004 was

2,532.

• 186 of the live births were considered low birthweight.

• 186 lbw babies / 2,532 total births = 0.73

• 0.73 x 100 = 7.3% of births in our county in 2004 were low birthweight.

• Mean: also called the average. Equal to the sum of the measurements divided by the number of measurements in the data set.

• 58 students in afterschool program that runs 180 days. Take the number of days that each attended the program, get total, divide by 58 and you will have the mean attendance (or average).

Data Pitfalls and Pointers

• Provide complete information− Year, age range, source, data definition

• Use official sources when possible

−KIDS COUNT−Go to original source of data

• Know when composite indicators are used− Teen violent deaths−Healthy start

Data Pitfalls and Pointers • Rankings

− Use caution with rankings. Changes in rank can be affected by large change in one area or small changes in many areas.

• Graphs− Use caution with scales. − Graphs can be manipulated to show great

variation or to mask differences.

• Small Numbers− Issue for small populations− Low Number Events <5− Can use widen geographic area, increase time

period of analysis, or increase population definition.

Data Pitfalls and Pointers

• Comparisons−When comparing trends over time or data

from various locations, make sure definitions for data are the same.

−What is the age group studied or surveyed?−Are you looking at raw numbers, rates, or

average?−Are data collected in same manner?−What is time period of data?

• Point-in-time? Federal fiscal year? State fiscal year? Calendar year?

Displaying Data• Audience: target audience determines how

you display data, the detail needed, and the depth of the data displayed. Charts, graphs, tables, rates, percentages….what to use with different audiences? −Media− Partners− Program participants− Funders− Policymakers

Displaying Data: Be Clear

10.3% infant mortality rate

OR

ten out of 100 babies die before their first birthday

1 out of 10 babies dies before the age of one

56.7% high school graduation rate

OR

Just over half of the students in our county finish high school

in the typical four years.

1 in 2 students do not finish high school on time

Displaying Data: Be Clear

• Greater than 70% of White and Asian students graduate on time.

• 49.6%, or slightly less than half, of Hispanic students graduate on time.

• 1 in 3 Georgia high school students do not graduate on time.

• Nearly 1 in 5 Georgia children live in poverty.

• Every day in Georgia, 14 babies are born to teen mothers ages 15-17.

Who is audience for this graph?

Framing the Story: Frameworks Institute

• How do we get people to think about our issues?

• How do we get them to think about our issues in such a way that they want to solve them through public policies, not only individual actions?

• How do we get them to think about issues in such a way that they want to solve them through OUR public policies?

Framing the Story: Frameworks Institute

• People use mental shortcuts.

• Incoming information provides cues about where to ‘file’ it mentally.

• People get most information about public affairs from the news media which, over time, creates a framework of expectation, or dominant frame.

• Over time, we develop habits of thought and expectation and configure incoming information to conform to this frame.

Framing the Story: Frameworks Institute

• When communication is inadequate, people default to the ‘pictures in their head’ or existing frames.

• When communication is effective, people can see an issue from a different perspective, or alternative frame.

Framing the Story: Levels of Understanding

• Level One: Big ideas, like freedom, justice, community, success, prevention, responsibility.

• Level Two: Issue-types, like the environment or child care or domestic violence.

• Level Three: Specific issues, like rainforests or earned income tax credits or quality afterschool programs.

Using Data to Tell a Story

• Presentation

• Accuracy

• Relevance

Find the Mistakes• Common errors

• Who is the audience?

• Three suggestions for improvement

Make it Better!• Who is the audience?

• Three suggestions for improvement

• How would yours look?

Questions / Comments