Hi there, readers! We have so enjoyed having you on this data journey with us. The posts we’ve shared since March are an introduction to data literacy, and we’re wrapping up that theme today. Fear not! This series—Between a Graph & a Hard Place—isn’t going anywhere. We’re just starting a new theme, like the next […]
I love color. As long as I can remember, I have kept my crayons organized in rainbow order. It makes me happy to see them that way! It’s a little tedious with the magical 64 pack of crayons, but totally worth it. I am an extreme example, but humans in general are visual creatures. Color […]
Hello, again! Are you ready to learn more about the right data for the job? We are reviewing the qualifications of various data to answer different kinds of research questions, just like we would review job candidates’ qualifications for a job. Last week we talked about the importance of what data were collected and how […]
Imagine that different types of data are different people that you are interviewing for a job. The job is to answer a specific research question. You want to know what their qualifications are—will they do a good job? Are their strengths a good match for the task? Like we’ve mentioned before, if there are issues […]
Average is one of those statistics that comes up a lot. What does it mean? How can we use it? What are its limitations? Today we’re going to talk about both the average, also known as the mean, and another statistic called the median. Means and medians are both ways to find out what’s typical […]
Welcome back! We’re excited to have you with us on this data journey. To work with data, it helps to understand specific concepts—what is per capita, what is an average, how to investigate sources. These are all valuable skills and knowledge that help you navigate and understand data. What you may not realize is that […]
Hello, world! We can all agree that these are strange times we are living through. Here at the Library Research Service, we’ve been thinking about how we can help. What skills could we share that might be useful to library staff and our communities? As library and information professionals, before this pandemic we already spent […]
Digging in to the latest Pew Research Center’s survey of who is reading books and how they are accessing them.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assesses adult competency on an international scale, using the Survey of Adult Skills. The survey assesses adults aged 16-65 on literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. The OECD focuses on these three skills because they are necessary for full participation in society, relevant to a variety […]
The 2019 Colorado Health Access Survey, administered by the Colorado Health Institute, found that “one in seven Coloradans (13.5%) say they have needed mental health treatment but didn’t get it.” This survey randomly samples 10,000 Colorado households every two years. In 2017, the percentage of Coloradans reporting they did not receive needed mental health treatment […]
