ABC’s of DataFebruary 9, 2012

Information + action for social change

Healthy City is a project of…

A public policy change organization rooted in the civil

rights movement

…is an information + action resource that unites rigorous research, community voices and innovative technologies

to solve the root causes of social inequity

DIRECT TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO:

COMMUNITY ORGSFOUNDATIONSGOVERNMENT

COMMUNITY RESEARCH LAB

Training community groups to lead and sustain action-oriented research &

technology projects

ONLINE MAPPING TECHNOLOGYwww.HealthyCity.org

Learning Objectives You will learn…

• What data is and what different types of data exist

• About trusted data sources like the US Census and CA Health Interview Survey

• How to understand and work with some common data limitations

• How to use data on HealthyCity.org including maps and charts

• Tips for presenting and displaying data in your work

Data, Data, Data

• Data consist of measurements of any characteristic of interest. Basically, anything about everything around you!Ex. Your age, the size of your household, the

number of schools in your neighborhood, etc.

• What data do you have or use?

There are all types of data around us!

Most of your organizations probably already have data that you’ve collected and handle on a daily basis.

Door knocking records

How many people your organization serves

Financial contributions

Data, Data, Data

Primary & Secondary Data• Primary – Data that you collect!

• Secondary – Data that another entity collects and others can use, such as the Census, Department of Health, another researcher, agency, etc.

Quantitative & Qualitative Data• Qualitative – Data that consist of non-numerical observations,

primarily focus on describing attributes, properties or some other kind of meaning

• Quantitative – Data that can be expressed numerically

These types of data are often used together to convey a greater richness of meaning than using only one type.

Data, Data, Data

Time to Share: How have you used data or maps in your

work?

1957 Wally Freeland

Data Sources on HealthyCity.org

And many more…

Data Source Tips

Key Points to Keep in Mind:

• What is the original source and how reliable is it?

• How old is the data?

• How was the data gathered and analyzed?

• How complete is the data?

• What are the pros and cons for a specific dataset?

Data Sources & Data

Directory

List of all Data Sources on

HealthyCity.org

List of all data on

HealthyCity.org

Click a Target and explore

data

Click a Sub-Category

Click an Indicator and

explore further

Variables

Geographic Units

Data YearsIs it

aggregatable?

AggregationZIP Codes Yuba

County

Yes, because… The data values are raw numbers such as number of housing units or population

Can you aggregate the number of births by ZIP Code to find out the total number of births in Yuba County?

?

AggregationZIP Codes Yuba

County

No, because…The data values are percentages or rates, such as percentage of families in poverty or drop out rate

X?Can you aggregate the birth rates by ZIP Code to find out the birth rate in Yuba County?

Data Lingo Recap

• Indicators Age, Employment Status

• Variables Ages 0-5, Currently Employed

• Data Levels ZIP Code, Service Planning Area, County

• Universe Total Population, Civilian Population Age 16 and Over

• Metadata Supporting information about the dataset such as description,

source, year, universe

• Aggregation Combining data values from smaller geographies to create a

data value for a larger geography

Indicator

Variable

Universe

Map Community Data

Types of Data on HealthyCity.org

ThematicPopulation Characteristics

Civic ParticipationEmployment, Income &

PovertyHealth Conditions,

Diseases, Injuries and Deaths

Crime & Public SafetyHousing

And much more…

Services & Points Social Services & Nonprofits

Hospitals and FQHCsPublic & Private SchoolsGrocery Stores & WIC

VendorsAlcohol Outlets & Toxic Sites

And much more…

Types of Data on HealthyCity.org

Click on Change to select your geography

Select “City”, then

“Riverside”

Click a “Target” to select data

Add a second layer of data:

Families in Poverty or Median Household

Income

Click the “i” tool and then click on map to see data

values

Change Data Level to view data by a different

geographical unit

See range of data values in the

Legend

Click Customize to modify your

map

Share your map:

• Export to Word• Print• Save• Email

Customize:

• Absolute value or Percentage value

• Number of classes

• Colors

• Data Range

Equal Interval

Black or African American (Non-Hispanic or Latino)

Data Ranges

Equal Interval

Quantile

Quantile

Chart Community Data

Click on Change to select your geography

Select “County”,

then “Fresno”

Click a “Target” to select data

Choose a category

Choose a sub-category

Births in Fresno County:

12.99% are to Mother’s Under 20

56.24% are Mother’s Ages 20-29

Select a different indicator

How does this compare to the state

of California?

View other years of data or

multiple years at once

Ability to view different types of

charts

Variable

Click Show/Hide description

to see details

Click Show/Hide List to see data level used for aggregation

Universe, Source, Year

Click Show/Hide List to see list of

geographies used to aggregate

• Colorful, engaging

• Sources are cited

• Issues displayed are important to your goal

• Clear and easy to understand

Data Visualizations

Healthy City, 2011Data Source: US Census 2010

Healthy City, 2011Data Source: US Census 2010 Healthy City, 2011

Data Source: US Census 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xekEXM0Vonchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xekEXM0Vonchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xekEXM0Vonc

Data Visualizations

Data Visualizations

Pie charts are useful for showing significant differences in percentages as parts of a whole. *Remember—values need to add up to 100%

Bar graphs are useful for Comparing data between different groups or showing changes over time.

Line graphs are useful for showing changes over time.

• Help reveal larger place-based dynamics that numbers by themselves cannot

• Connect community knowledge and data to location

• Support strategy through communicating patterns to a broad audience, clearly, quickly, and dramatically

Why Are Maps Useful Visualizations?

Organizations can use maps to:• Act on an issue/Confirm action

• Strategy: Community Organizing• Strategy: Advocacy

• Highlight an issue or a specific

aspect of an issue• Strategy: Media/Communications• Strategy: Policy• Strategy: Grantwriting

Why Are Maps Useful Visualizations?

Maps for Advocacy

Public Awareness on Distribution of Healthy/Unhealthy Food Resources – Los Angeles, CA

Monthly Blog about New and Updated

Data

Data Blog

Click Help Center to view User Guide,

Video Tutorials

Click Filter and

choose“data”

Thank you!