Data is a hot topic in business, but its collection needs to be carefully analysed before you can transform it into something useful and actionable. Follow these steps to get the most out of your data and find out how to make it useful and easily understandable by everyone you work with.
Focus
Before you collect your data, decide which questions you are trying to answer and which problems you are trying to solve. Once you have established this, you can start to tailor and focus your data collection process. This focus will prevent your business from obtaining too much data and will make sure any information you collect is relevant and valuable. The quality of your data is also important, as accurate and up-to-date information is far more useful than a large quantity of unreliable data. A data analysis company such as https://shepper.com can assist you with your data collection and processing.
Avoiding bias
Having bias in your data collection process can lead to unreliable results, so it is important to identify and address any sources of partiality or prejudice. This should begin at the data collection stage, so make sure that your sampling methods are wide and inclusive to avoid any over-representation of certain groups, people, or perspectives.
Always try to look for data that challenges your assumptions and analyse the data for any alternative interpretations of what you have collected. It is also important to be aware of bias in algorithms and machine learning, especially when using AI tools to analyse your data – even AI can struggle with bias in the data collection process.
Smart data design
Even the best data will not be useful if it is presented in an unclear or confusing way. Using smart layout design can help to make your data accessible, and using visual tools such as graphs, charts, or infographics can help to present your information in an easy-to-understand way. This will mean the results and information from your data become useful and accessible to everyone in your business
