Turning Administrative Information into Useable Data: Lessons from the Field with the Crime and Justice Institute

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

PANEL: Even the best dataset typically needs some amount of cleaning, but just how messy is too messy? Most organizations do not track information with the intention to conduct academic studies, but that does not mean the information they collect is unusable. This panel covers topics related to identifying inconstancies in secondary datasets, embracing tools and technology to address time sensitive and frequently requested information, sourcing variables across organizations, and negotiating practitioner partnerships. Transitioning from academic settings to applied research poses unique challenges from negotiating stakeholder expectations to estimating project timelines without seeing datasets to relying on administrative collected by practitioners. This panel offers examples from the field and discusses strategies for dealing with messy real-world data. Our goal is to share insights from the field and offer useful approaches to analyzing messy data.

Title: Creating a Data Repository with Publicly Available Data

Title: “We Don’t Track That:” Strategies for Using Administrative Data from Jails

Title: H is for Hawaiian: Lessons from the Field

Title: Improving Data Quality and Utility Through Academic-Practitioner Partnerships

Sub Unit

• Area XI. Methodology / 82. Advances in Evaluation Research

Individual Presentations

• Creating a Data Repository with Publicly Available Data - Clarissa Dias, Crime and Justice Institute

• “We Don’t Track That:” Strategies for Using Administrative Data from Jails - Rachel Schmidt, Crime and Justice Institute; Jordan Holsinger, Crime and Justice Institute

• Improving Data Quality and Utility Through Academic-Practitioner Partnerships - Erica Bower, Crime and Justice Institute; Mei Yang, Crime and Justice Institute

Organized by a Division or external group?

Crime and Justice Institute, a division of Community Resources for Justice