How to Collect Meaningful Data
The ability to gather meaningful data is as important as the insights the data can generate. Those insights, the end result of any data collection, is what people see and judge.
The hard truth here is that bad data leads to bad decisions. Thus, it is important to take the time necessary to build a proper data collection process. Two weeks ago, as I completed my big data certification, the importance of proper data collection became clear. It also reminded me of some basic data collection techniques I learned during Six Sigma training. That’s what I want to share with you today.
There are many benefits to building a proper data collection process. The primary benefit will be to the teams that need to sift through the data for insights. The sooner they get value from the data, the better. This saves time and money for everyone involved.
Having a proper data collection process allows you to document what data is being collected, by whom, and for what purpose. Your data collection process should be part of a larger data governance strategy. Unfortunately, data governance is one of those things that happens after a company grows to a certain size. (So is data security, but I digress.)
Here’s a simple process outline for you to review. It’s worked well for me over the years. Feel free to adopt or change for your own needs. Use whatever you can to build a data collection that helps you gather meaningful data.
Collecting data isn’t difficult. But collecting the right data is hard. And the only way to collect the right data, meaningful data, is by defining the goals for what the data is to achieve. You need to ask the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. You must have an idea of what problem the data needs to solve.
Data stratification is helpful here. Stratification is the grouping or sorting of data into sub-groups. You can use stratification to identify the requirements of each group that will consume the collected data. This will help you better understand the nature of the problem you are trying to solve. Each team will understand how they get data, and how that data relates to the larger data collection.
Warrants mentioning: GDPR compliance starts in three weeks. Be mindful of collecting personal data.
Operational definitions and procedures define the measures for your data collection process.
