Let’s Talk Data

Been dreaming about data, talking about it, just not writing it down this past year.  But with a new year comes a resolution to sit down weekly and capture some of the most interesting data trends that cross my path plus, I want to share the excitement that I feel from the work I’m doing.

Sometimes, I think when you set out to write (be it blog, letter, email), you have this image of the perfect post….and it’s difficult to let it go until you’ve polished yourself to a very dull point.  The same can be said for all projects, and data projects in particular.

Last year I formed a new company called Earthsense with my business partner and a group of crazy colleagues who like to take on really challenging marketing problems.  The idea started simply – to apply common sense to the explosive green movement.  As researchers, we wanted to use our skills at gathering and analyzing data to arm organizations with the information they need to produce products that are good for our earth while being good for the bottom line.  Since early last summer, our team at Earthsense has been immersed in sourcing, collecting, evaluating and standardizing lots of disparate data sources.  Our goal was to create a proprietary study – the Earthsense Eco-Insights Survey but to use our various skill sets to provide more than the traditional banners associated with syndicated market research.

This particular group of people have various backgrounds, but at our core we are all data geeks.  (Yeah, the truth comes out.)  We have expert researchers, marketers, analysts, statisticians, demographers, business folk, a microbiologist, a few with psychology backgrounds, city planners, geographers and ex-broadcasters and a few professors, too.  We have always had an interest in understanding consumers from a holistic sense — and so this survey has a special set of questions designed to understand consumer attitude, motivation and behavior when it comes to eco-friendly products.  For behavior, we had a theory that people express themselves by “voting” with their wallets (product purchases), voting with actions (conservation efforts, volunteering, donating) and also, traditionally and publically, by political affiliation and choice of candidate. 

Oh!  Wait until you see the patterns we are uncovering by examining the largest group of observations on the subject — 30,000 people answered our survey!  (Yes, count ‘em.  It is the largest survey of its kind in this area.)  We see strong relationships between political orientation (conservative, libertarian, moderate), Democrats, Republicans and Independents and attitudes about global warming and who is responsible for getting us out of this mess.  That is, some groups have higher concentrations of people who take personal responsibility and believe that we all need to do our share, while others believe more realistically, government and private industry are the only entities large enough to have measurable impact.

And to make it more challenging, we are actually going farther than just creating segments from survey responses — we’re looking deeper at “personal eco-systems” (mecosystems) where we examine all the influences that affect an individuals propensity to adopt eco-friendly/green/socially conscious behavior.

But it gets tricky.  When do you have to stop collecting and start analyzing?  So many theories and so little time!  It’s not demographics alone, nor lifestyle or lifestage, not the economy alone….is it media? Social networks? External factors like organizations, climate, resources (exographics?)  It’s tricky because there are varying levels of data (geographic based, vector based, point level, summarized, etc.) and they are not all updated at the same timeframe.  The possibilities are endless!

These are the types of data we’re crunching, examining, analyzing.  If you’ve read Super Crunchers — you’ll understand the fire that burns when you have lots of data to look at…its addictive as you move it around (kind of like a Rubiks cube) looking for the solution.  And it is an  new way of understanding the perfect storm needed to incite consumer behavior. 

So, we’re not waiting to release our results until we find the perfect answer.  We’re teaming up with information pros around the country (international has to wait until next year!) to digest our data, enhance it, analyze it, and provide measurable, actionable information for companies who are grappling with growing green.  The green train has left the station — only companies who have open minds and willingness to experiment and learn will wind up on the other side of Sustainabilty Mountain intact.

I’m spent.

It was more than I expected. I’m drained yet pumped.

As an alumna of SUNY Oswego, I offered to participate in their Education Based Experience program. I have a few ideas for Catosphere and while I’ve got a great network of professional consultants that I could engage, I wanted to try a new approach.

And what better place but on a pulsing, beating, living campus can you find some new ideas — some real fresh views, fresh blood? After thinking about the responsibility of being a dedicated guide to interns, I decided that I would try to tap into the college. I wanted to find passionate, eager, smart partners who could help me plan and execute an idea I’ve been mulling over for some time. (This is no “fetch my coffee” internship/project.) While I was hoping to get a few takers, I was honored that so many expressed interest in the business and the project.

I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Ian Cuthills’s Market Research class in the Business School. “Speaking” is probably not the right word. I felt like I spewed incoherent tidbits of information that I have gathered over the last seventeen years. How does one describe what market research is in 55 minutes?

Yeah, you are collecting data to make a decision, but it’s so much more than that when it’s done with an eye on the big prize, the big picture.

Each industry has its own history, its own jargon. It takes awhile to feel at home in your own skin when you are introduced to something new. I loved the whole one to one communication you get with real radio — my first love. But slowly over time, I’ve been steeped in the world of data and now it practically oozes from my pores. Each technique I discuss is intricately linked to others in my brain. Primary research, geocoding, segmentation, pattern-recognition, file scoring, thematic mapping… there’s so much to learn.

And that’s not even the half of it. Privacy laws, balancing out the needs of a corporation against the rights of the consumer, benefits of certain methodologies over others, and the increasingly difficult time market researches have getting busy people to stop and give them the answers they seek…. there’s so much to cover.

How will I pass on this information without overloading them? More importantly, how to you awaken a passion in someone for something you feel compelled to do? How can I explain that once you learn the basics, you can make anything you want. You don’t have to stay between the lines?

One day at a time, I guess. It took me a long time to learn this stuff, and yet, sometimes, I am surprised as how excited I am about the prospect of learning something new — I feel like I’m 19, still, with my whole life ahead of me, and a whole world to explore.

New cool tool of the day: Clusty — this is organization (and segmentation) of the web at its best. I remember seeing this site ages ago, and somehow or another I lost the bookmark and forgot about it. But type in anything in the search, and watch how quickly and consistently it groups together like sites/pages and how much more meaningful research becomes when you are using it.

Yawn…. no more for me tonight.

Listening to the interviews with “The Powers That Be” involved in responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, you can’t help but wonder why everyone seemed so caught off guard. Seems to me that everyone is too busy pointing fingers rather than focusing on the task of reinventing the damaged areas.

Local & state officials had plans, they had the numbers. The census is after all, a survey that is designed so that the government is adequately represented by the population that resides in an area. Those numbers are looked over, picked over, disputed and celebrated daily for Economic Development, Education Planning, Transportation Planning, Retail Expansion, and so on nearly EVERY day.

So, knowing that the data is there…I don’t quite understand how no one (locally) took responsibility to get people out before the waters hit.

And for those who stayed, despite the warnings, well — they had their reasons, I’m sure. But to blame the Federal Government for not forcing them out when even their local leaders failed to mobilize is pushing the blame too far. What about individual responsibility? In some cases people simply made poor decisions. While many try to help those in need — many of those in need reject the help they are offered. And, at some point, you have to concentrate on those that are willing to accept your helpl.

I can’t help but think of all the working people — the police, the firemen, the nurses, doctors, teachers, and others who sent their loved ones out of town but stayed to help manage the disaster. These people are the ones who should replace our career politicians — because they are close to people, close to the data — and can see the patterns clearly because they are firmly committed to doing their jobs — not getting re-elected. Census data isn’t abstract to these city guardians. They deal with the people behind the numbers every day.

Want to see the demographics yourself? We’ve posted some data that might help you understand just what the leaders in the area had access to for the past 4 years. These are 1990/2000 Census counts for population, age/sex/race, income, transportation, etc.

http://www.catosphere.com/CatosphereHurricaneKatrinaDemographics.htm

There are days that you just want to scream at the top of your lungs, then grab a martini and sit in the hot tub to sulk.

My head has been swimming because as a (self-proclaimed!) information evangelist, I feel frustrated when other people don’t get it.

Data is power.

Data is power.

Data is power.

And without the right data, you can’t compete. Successful businesses that turn around on a dime because they can meet their clients’ needs understand this concept.

“Data” doesn’t necessarily mean a database. I’m talking information that you need to move forward and keep improving on your product or service. For example, if you know your customer loves “red” and you get a new widget in “red” — then by all means, if your timing is right and you make the effort to reach out to your client — you will sell your goods to him. You meet a need when you provide what someone wants at the right time — its that simple. Sometimes, you just have to be willing to show up.

I’m a big believer in tracking things. I keep my emails, I review web logs, I take time to see if I can find a pattern that I can use to my advantage. I’m working with some large companies these days that have such a breakdown in communication that they can’t act on the simplest ideas without concensus across a zillion departments. Yet, if they took the time to look at the data — the raw facts presented in a meaningful way — the answer would be as clear as day.

Data is simply a collection of pieces of information. Put together, they allow analysis, review, and direction.

Doing business without data is ludicrous.

I feel like I’m ranting, because….well, I guess I am ranting.

Arrgh…

I think the first time I heard the term, metadata, I wasn’t quite sure what they were referring to. Was it a medical word (like metabolic) or related to language (metaphor)?

Metadata is “data about data” — in other words, it’s a form of data which is used to decribe other data. Information which helps people classify, define and organize their data so that they can use it more effectively.

So, for example, you could have a database of demographic estimates such as current year population, median age, counts of households by income ranges — and for each field you could list the source of the data, the vintage, whether it was derived from a calculation or a direct census question, etc. Data about data…