Transcript What if the program shows no positive impact on youth?
GOT DATA?
Step-by-Step Guide to Making Data Work for You
Center for Applied Research Solutions, Inc 771 Oak Avenue Parkway, Suite 3 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 983-9506 TEL (916) 983-5738 FAX
GOT DATA?
Step-by-Step Guide to Making Data Work for You
Facilitators: Kerrilyn Scott Christina Borbely Produced and Conducted by the Center for Applied Research Solutions, Inc. for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs SDFSC Workshop-by-Request May 16, 2005 Authored by Christina J. Borbely, Ph.D.
Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Technical Assistance Project
Objectives
Preparing to Use Data – – – – Database options & structure Identifying data Coding & Entering Storing & Cleaning Methods for Summarizing Data – – Basics: frequency & % change Beyond Basics: mean scores; making comparisons Interpreting Data Effective Report Writing Utilizing & Disseminating Findings – Program improvement, Funders, Key Stakeholders
Ready, Set, Go!
Preparing to Use Data
Database Options Identifying Data Coding Data Entering, Storing, & Cleaning Data
Database Options
Microsoft Excel Microsoft Access SPSS
Excel
Spreadsheet format Some computational functions Compatible with other MS software & statistical software Comes with Microsoft Office package (or $299) http://office.microsoft.com/en us/FX010858001033.aspx
Access
User friendly design Requires some preparation prior to data entry Generates custom reports Good for qualitative (i.e. open-ended items) & quantitative data Compatible with other Microsoft software & statistical software (i.e. converts easily to Excel!) Comes with Microsoft Office package (or $299) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857911033.aspx
SPSS
Spreadsheet format Requires some tutorial (not always intuitive) One-touch data analysis!
Pricing ranges from $599 to $1499 www.spss.com
Watcha Got?
Identifying data Variable names
Identifying Data
Each piece of information you have for a participant or a program is data.
Data are…
# of completed surveys data # of times a youth attended a session # of youth who attended a meeting # of merchants contacted for outreach Age Grade
FYI: Types of Data
Discrete, categorical
Male/Female US Citizen/Non US Citizen Freshman, Sophmore, Junior, Senior
Continuous
Age Salary Conflict Resolution Ability
Variable Names
Each piece of data is labeled with a unique (and hopefully meaningful) variable name
.
Data Section E, item 3 Age Unit 1 total score Variable Name E3 Age Un1tot
Variable Names: Do’s & Don’ts
Meaningful
For section E, item 6: E6 Variable124a DOB E6
Short
Date of Birth Youth Survey Section E, Item #6 E6, E7, E9, F1, F2
Systematic
1F, twoF, Fthree
Plan to reference data collection time points
First administration
: BL (for baseline) or T1 (for time 1) or PRE (for pre-test) BLE6, FUE6 E6, E6
Be consistent with the chosen system
T1E6, T2E6 E6T1, T2E6
Coding Key: Do’s
Translate into numeric values
For response scale: YES! Yes No NO!
YES! = 3 Yes = 2 No = 1 NO! = 0
Record coding key directly onto measure & save!
Coding System Examples
Race Black = 1 Hispanic = 2 White = 3 Asian = 4 Other = 5 Gender Male = 1 Female = 2
Coding Key: Don’ts
Do not create a separate variable to code each response to an item.
1. What grade are you in? A. 6 th Variable name = BL1 Codes A=1; B=2; C=3 B. 7 th C. 8 th
NOT
Variable name = BL1A; BL1B; BL1C Codes Yes=1; No=0
Advanced Coding
•
Collapsing Variables by Code
1. Do you live in a house? Y/N 2. Do you live in an apartment? Y/N 3. Do you live in a barn? Y/N
Variable Name: “Reside” Codes:
house = 1 apartment = 2 barn = 3
Reverse Coding
The values of the coding system may need to be reversed to reflect the true meaning of the response.
1. Do you runaway from home? Often Sometimes Rarely Never 2. Do your parents smile at you? Often Sometimes Rarely Never 3. Are you happy at home?
Often Sometimes Rarely Never Variable codes: Reverse code: 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4
Entering Data in Your Database
Create 1 row of variable names: Across
Create 1 column of names/id #s: Down
Enter post test & follow-ups by
extending the row
each participant for ID BLgrade BLa23 0025 6 2.5
T2grade T2a23 7 3.1
Save regularly
as you enter (don’t lose all that work!)
Storing Data
Hardcopies Electronic files
Under Lock n’ Key
Guard with your life
until a back up is made
Keep all hardcopies
as backup Maintain
back ups in different locations
Preserve confidentiality
Separate identifying information from surveys Use passwords; locked file cabinets; secured offices
Cleaning Data: Quick, Easy, & Worth It!
Save yourself the grief of inexplicable scores…
Data should fall within an expected range (e.g. 1 to 5).
Scan data for unusual numbers by: Visual review A “sort by” function A “find” function A “minimum/maximum” or “range” function
Squeaky Clean!
Use a “
missing” marker
(e.g. 999) when a response is purposely missing (e.g. left blank, etc.) Pros:
easy to spot
unintentionally unentered data Cons:
extra step
to remove missing marker later
Don’t forget to exclude “missing” data values
, so it doesn’t mess up your computations!
FYI: How to use “missing” markers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Select number or symbol that will not naturally occur in the data Enter marker when data point is unavailable Clean data & look for “blanks”. Fill in un-entered or incomplete data.
After
data is clean, delete or exclude the missing marker Do data analysis
Recommendations
Consider using “in house” resources for entering & cleaning data Consider outsourcing database development to a graduate student or local evaluator
FYI: Outliers
An outlier is a data point that
does not cluster
with other data points in the group.
Example
: ages range from 12.1 to 14.3 years; there are 3 outliers age 17.4; 19.2; and 19.7 years.
It
may skew data
not representative of the sample.
so that it is Consider
excluding outliers
Housekeeping Activity: Clean the Data
Guide: Step 1
Set up a database Code and enter data Clean database Kids today!
Putting Data to Work Methods for Summarizing Data
Basics Taking It Up a Notch
Add It Up
Count or Tally
Do you attend Club Live? Yes No
By hand llll
Yes
ll
No
l
Blank
By computer Yes=1; No=0; Blank=999
ID
jn789 rs587 ty390 ge188 bo989 va689 pc490 sz688
T21a
1 0 1 1 0 999 1 1
Frequencies: Ratio & Percent Distribution
Quantifies rate of occurrence for categories of information
Useful for….
What race are you?
Black White Asian Hispanic Other Do you live with both biological parents?
Yes
NOT As Useful for….
No How much you like school? (circle one) YES! Yes No NO!
How old are you? _____
Calculating Frequency
Sum the number of times a given response occurs Report a number: a ratio or percentage Gender Male Female Total # of participants 49 51 100 % of participants 49% 51% 100% Of the 100 participants, 49 were male.
This year, almost half (51%) of the participants were females.
Common uses
Demographics to characterize participants or community
Race; gender; grade; homeowner status
Statistics to describe program
Number of program completers % of city council members contacted
Impact statements on outcomes
% of youth reporting ATOD use Ratio of signage below adult eye-level
Reporting Frequencies
Frequency of participants reporting they are: Male Employed Getting mostly B’s in math Parents of a FNL youth Frequency with which: Decoy buys are successful Alcohol-sponsored events occur
Sample: Excerpt of Frequency in Text
“ Of clients with completed CBCL/YSR, well over half (56.9%) function in the lowest quartile of global competence. Specifically, clients demonstrate compromised ability related to engagement in age-appropriate activities, social interaction, and performance at school. Given that services are provided in the school context, it is not surprising that almost three-quarters of the clients (71.2%) function in the bottom quartile of school-related competence. Teachers and other school staff, individuals familiar with indicators of school competence, are the most common referral source of students. It is expected that competence in these domains will benefit from student participation in counseling services. Additional data is being collected to test for improvement over time.”
Change Score
Comparison of scores to assess change
Proposed outcome
:
ID
80% of youth increased awareness of ATOD consequences
T1consq T2consq Change Increase
jn789 3.4
3.4
0 No rs587 ty390 ge188 bo989 va689 pc490 sz688 2.1
2.5
3.0
4.3
999 3.2
1.6
3.6
3.4
3.5
4.5
2.9
2.9
2.5
+1.5
+.9
+.5
+.2
999 -.3
+.9
Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A No Yes
5 of 7 youth increased scores = 71.4% of youth increased awareness of ATOD consequences
Taking It Up a Notch
Mean scores And beyond…
Mean Scores
The mean refers to a variables central tendency and is the sum of all a factors values divided by the number of values.
“Mean” and “average” refer to the same concept.
Calculating Means
Sum all the response values, then divide by the total number (of responses or items) Provide a frame of reference (“out of how many”)
Averages
ID aj785 tk983 mr286 Age 20 22 19 61/3 = 20.3
ItemE7 4 3 5 12/3 = 4 RskFctrs 3 0 2 5/3 = 1.6
The mean age of the participants is 20.3 years.
The average score on Item E7 is 4 out of 5.
Youth have an average of 1.6 risk factors out of a possible 4 risk factors.
Common Uses
To make a generalized statement about a group.
Demographics to characterize participants or community Age; Income level Impact statements on outcomes Level of ATOD use among youth Sub-scale scores
Reporting Mean Scores
Report means of sub-scales
Average score for “Community Connection” scale
Report mean scores of an individual item
Item E4: How often did you smoke pot in the past 7 days?
Report mean score of occurrence
Average number of hours spent educating merchants
Sample: Excerpt of Mean Score in Text
“Of the districts completing Year 1 Superintendent Surveys, the majority indicated that counseling services were of a resource of high value. On a five-point scale with 5 being the highest value, the average value assigned to the Project X counseling services was 3.67. In addition, all districts indicated that parents, teachers, administrators, and school psychologists were largely receptive to and supportive of the resource. The majority of responding superintendents indicate that districts would benefit from expanding counseling services and improving the physical space allotted for service delivery. Clearly, Year 1 has culminated in substantiated need and the resolve to prioritize addressing the need.
“
Analysis Activity: Finding Findings
FYI: Calculating Subscale Means
For each case, sum the values for all items in the subscale and divide by that number of items.
Then calculate the overall mean of each participant’s mean score.
Subscale: Attitudes Towards Violence Items included: A8, A9, B4, E7, F2, F3 (6 items)
ID A8 A9 B4 E7 F2 F3 Sum Mean N7H K2F 2 1 3 2 5 2 1 1 3 4 3 1 17 11 2.83
1.83
Overall mean: 4.66/2
Attitudes Toward Violence mean = 2.33 out of 5.
FYI: Other Measures of Central Tendency
Mode The most frequently occurring value in a set of values The modal response for the smoking subscale was 2.0 out of 5.0. This indicates that while youth may have tried smoking, most do not smoke on a regular basis.
Median It is the value that is the mid-point in a set of values where half the values are smaller & half are larger.
The median cost of a home in the area is $350,000, well above the average family income for participating parents.
Apples to Apples?
Comparing Frequencies & Means
Means to Means and Frequencies to Frequencies
Over time Pre- to Post-Test Scores Incidence statistics the year before to the year after the program Across groups Program participants to control/comparison group Merchants with low program participation to those with high program participation
Frequencies & Means: Method of Comparison
Eyeballing differences
Testing differences
Anyone can do it Limits interpretation Requires a simple statistical test Determines whether the difference is meaningful Allows definitive statement about comparison
Recommendations
Consider using an evaluator or identifying a consultant (like a local graduate student) to do statistical tests or analyses.
Activity: Compare Scores
And beyond…
Normal distribution Standard deviation Statistical significance
FYI: Normal Distribution
Normal distribution refers to a group of data points that occur symmetrically and with a bell-shaped density and one peak.
Balasubramanian Narasimhan , Stanford University, July 22, 1996
FYI: Standard Deviation
Standard deviation is a standardized score to indicate where a finding falls on the normal distribution.
Often means are reported with a standard deviation (SD). For example, mean = 3.4 (.17).
Rule of thumb: SD between 0 and 2 are fine. Outside of this, finding may be skewed.
FYI: Statistical Significance
“Statistical significance” refers to the probability that the outcome of data analysis indicates an effect when there isn’t one.
When comparing means or frequencies (or other analysis outcomes), a test statistic is used to determine if there is a meaningful difference.
If a finding is “significant”, the outcome is considered true (with 95% certainty)
Guide: Step 2
Compute frequencies & means to describe program, participants, and outcomes
Compare findings
Making Meaning Interpreting Data
Bite your tongue Sound bytes Spin
Bite your tongue
Do say
Is associated with… This suggests… May indicate… Appears to… *note specific limitations (e.g. “no baseline”)
Don’t say
Is caused by… Is the result of… Due to… Because of… Significantly differed… (unless tested)
Sound Bites
Put favorable findings in short, sweet sentences
.
Statement to press:
Participation in FNL is associated with increases in self esteem.
Presentation to key stakeholders:
Merchants with Responsible Merchant education are less likely to sell alcohol to children in our community.
Spin
Group your data to
maximize findings
(e.g. cut a 4 point scale into high/low scores)
“No change” is “maintenance”
Couch unanticipated or lack of findings
in reasonable explanation or plans
Sample: Excerpt of “Spin”
“While scores from the Youth Survey’s ATOD use subscale indicate that participants increased their substance use over time (mean use at baseline = 3.2 out of 5; post-test = 4.0), this should be considered in context. Specifically, research reports a developmental (i.e. maturational) effect on adolescent use rates. When participant use rates were compared to rates reported for the same age group in Sutter County’s California Healthy Kids Survey, our youth were faring better…..
In addition, as noted in the previous section, youth attitudes towards substance use showed improvement over time. Within the literature, change in attitude is widely regarded as the first step in impacting behavior…”
Try Your Hand Activity: Translating Findings in Text
Guide: Step 3
Find your findings Select key findings Strategically frame findings
Read All About It!
Effective Report Writing
Know Your Audience Show Your Work If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Know Your Audience
Consider Who You Are Dealing With….
What do they care about?
How much time do they have?
What level of detail is ideal?
What do you expect to accomplish by sharing information with them?
Show Your Work
Don’t just report findings, report
how you found them
Specify:
measure development administration details
Sample: Excerpt of Evaluation Methodology
“The evaluation components for the fifth year consisted of the following elements: Protégé Pre- and Post Surveys (Outcome), Participant Satisfaction Surveys (for both Mentors and Proteges), Program Advisor Surveys, County Coordinator Phone Interviews, and Site Visits (Primarily focusing on interviewing the youth participants). In addition, Monthly Reports and Mentoring Session Activity Logs were collected and analyzed. The following provides a more detailed description of each component and the sample size.
Protégé Pre- and Post-Surveys: These instruments are intended to measure the impact of FNLM on the Proteges. The survey measures constructs such as school attachment, decision making and goal setting, conflict resolution, refusal skills, and ATOD harm perceptions and use. The survey took approximately 30 minutes to complete and primarily consisted of likert scale rating items. A sub sample of seven counties were administered the outcome survey and a total of 71 matched pre/post surveys were used for the data analysis ”
(FNL Year 5 Evaluation Report, 2003)
Describe program or evaluation
“lessons learned”
to account for modifications Sample: Excerpt of
Limitations
“Over the course of the four years, tracking program attendance has posed a major challenge. During the first two years of the program, valid attendance rates were not available due to hand-written attendance logs and a lack of documentation of program drop-outs. While the attendance data has improved dramatically over the course of the program, for the previous year tracking individual attendance rates was still not feasible. However, appropriate and consistent documentation of the number of mentors and protégés attending the mentoring sessions did allow for reporting average attendance levels by school site for mentors and protégés for each county; this method will be continued this year and will further benefit from the addition of an attendance summary sheet.” (FNL Year 5 Evaluation Report, 2003)
If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It
Insert statistics
and participants to describe the program, staff, Report overall outcome findings & include
notable specifics
“At program end, fewer youth showed favorable attitudes toward alcohol use (17% versus 25%), especially girls (13% versus 29%).”
A picture speaks a thousand words
Use graphs & charts to illustrate findings FNL survey relationship building mean scores (N = 204 youth) Community ATOD indicators per 1,000 population
positive peer connections bonding with adult staff 5 4.5
4 3.5
3 2.5
2 1.5
1 25
Percentage of Participants at Risk (N = 100)
5% 35% High Medium Low 20 15 10 60% 5 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Pre Test Post Test ATOD related hospital discharges DUI arrests
When To Use What Graphic
Line Graph
: use to display values (data points) over time
25 20 ATOD related hospital discharges DUI arrests
Community ATOD indicators per 1,000 population
15 10 5
0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Bar Chart
: use to display a distribution of values across categories
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Mostly Bs & As Mostly Cs Mostly Ds & Fs Grades
Grouped Bar Chart
: use to display a distribution of values across categories for two+ variables
positive peer connections bonding with adult staff 5 4.5
4 3.5
3 2.5
2 1.5
1 Pre Test Post Test
FNL survey relationship building mean scores (N = 204 youth)
Pie Chart
: use to display the distribution of cases across categories. Wedge=number or percentage.
5% 35% High Medium Low 60%
Percentage of Participants at Risk (N = 100)
Creating Figures
Automated
“chart” function in MS Word (2003), Excel, & Powerpoint
Label
everything Give each figure an
informative title
“Mean survey scores of 10 th High School” grade Youth Coalition members at Oak Ridge Give
context
of data (e.g. “per 1000 population”) Indicate the
population size
participants”) (e.g. “112
Writing About Graphics
Do
highlight key findings
displayed in figure Don’t reiterate in text every detail of the figure Sample: Excerpt of Text for Figure
“Retention Rates:
The attrition rates continue to show a slight decrease this year. A total of Fifty-two mentors (10%) and thirty-eight protégés (9%) were reported to drop-out of the program. In the previous year, attrition rates of 13% were seen for both the mentors (n=147) and proteges (n=141).
average number of The protégés that dropped from all school sites was higher than for the mentors.
5.0
Average Number of Protege Drops Per Site 5.0
Average Number of Mentor Drops Per Site “ 4.5
4.5
(FNL Year 5 Evaluation Report, 2003) 4.0
4.0
3.5
3.5
3.0
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
2.5
2.0
2.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
1.2
MDPCHGS1 2.0
PDPDS1 PDPDS2 PDPDS3 MDPCHGS2 MDPCHGS3
Writing Tips
Say it in numbers
The letter-writing campaign was successful.
The letter-writing campaign resulted in communication with 67 local government officials.
Say ONE thing at a time
More than half of the original participants completed the program and relationships with parents improved over time.
More than half (57%) of the original participants completed the program. These young people demonstrated a 12% improvement in relationships with parents over time.
Writing Tips
Be precise (not vague
) Program participants included high risk youth.
Over one-third (36%) of program participants met at least one of three risk factors, including school expulsion/drop out, juvenile arrest record, or free-lunch status.
Connect proposed outcomes to performance measures to findings.
A primary goal of the program was to reduce accessibility of tobacco to minors. Decoy buy assessments and focus groups with merchants involved in the merchant education program indicate that tobacco accessibility is more stringent now compared to at Year 1.
Writing Tips
Add interpretation or explanation to outcomes
.
Results from the Youth Survey indicate that teens showed healthier attitudes toward drug use, but increased drug use behavior over time.
Results from the Youth Survey indicate that teens showed healthier attitudes toward drug use, but increased drug use behavior over time. It may be that the program is most effective in impacting youth attitudes, not behaviors related to drug use. Research suggests that appropriate attitudes is a first step towards changing behavior.
Writing Tips
Use qualitative data to add depth to quantitative data.
Program records indicate that after a mid-year dip in attendance rates, regular participation exceeded expectations.
Program records indicate that after a mid-year dip in attendance rates, regular participation exceeded expectations. A focus group conducted with program staff at the end of the school year revealed that a gang violence incident on campus resulted in the temporary suspension of all after school activity programs. This corresponds with the dip in our program’s attendance rates.
Try Your Hand Activity: Writing Up Findings
Guide: Step 4
Describe how evaluation was conducted Include general and detailed findings Consider using graphics
Spread the Word Utilizing & Disseminating Findings
One-pager
Develop a 1 page summary to: – – – describe program key impacts recommendations or next steps
Sample: Excerpt of One Page Summary
Program Improvement
Identify
strengths and weaknesses
Use findings to
inform strategic planning
Regularly report impact to project staff to for
morale boosting
sessions
Highlight modifications
lessons learned made based on
Sample: Excerpt of Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths Recruiting and Screening
At-Risk
Challenges
•Very smooth getting at-risk youth – returning protégés already fit the profile •There were no problems recruiting at-risk youth, because we were working with that population anyways. •The at-risk group is attracted to FNL anyway, we had a wonderful group. It was trying at times, but they were paired with mentors that matched them so well – I saw some great moments. •There were a lot more discipline problems such as lack of interest and lack of involvement.
•There appears to be a stigma at this site about staying on campus after school hours •The screening process made finding these individuals more difficult because there are few students at the school who fit the criteria of a committed, good student who is not involved in conflicting extra-curricular activities
Reporting to Funders
Use the
specified format
Address the
original grant initiatives
point as focal Use language that
links back to original proposal
Highlight
lessons learned
Review
sustainability
Sharing with Key Stakeholders
Be
concise
Use very
basic statistics & graphics
Make information
accessible to broad audience
Use exciting/
interesting format
Acknowledge
contributions Highlight steps toward
the future
For Policy-makers
: make specific
recommendations
Get the News Out
Newsletter Press Release Newspaper Articles Local Television Station Organized meetings (program staff; city council; school board; PTA)
Guide: Step 5
Audience-specific format
Activity: Ask the Wizard
Finally…
You now know how to: Set up, code, enter, and clean data Translate data into findings Add context and interpretation to findings Disseminate evaluation findings
The End.
(woo hoo!)