Datacorp - Services

Needs Assessment

Needs assessment is a tool used to determine whether a particular program or service is needed, where need can be conceived of as the difference between what 'is' and what 'should be.' There are many methodologies that are used to conduct such an assessment; these include but are not limited to questionnaires, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, social indicator analysis, and record review.

Both public and private entities use needs assessment and analysis regularly. In the public sector, a needs assessment might evaluate the need for additional probation officers, or the need for more State-funded daycare. In the private sector, a needs assessment might look at a business' need for new computers, an employee assistance program, or other services.

You might want to consider a needs assessment if your organization is:

• Planning on providing new services or reallocating services
• Planning on buying new goods or services
• Setting the direction or defining goals for a new project
• Expanding its target population or market for goods or services

Strategic Consulting

Agency directors in the public and private fields face increasing pressure to effect change quickly and demonstrate results. DATACORP's expert consultants work closely with leaders to chart new visions for their organization, manage the change that follows, and measure the outcomes. Our clients look to DATACORP to bring innovative yet practical ideas based on the latest research, and to implement them quickly and smoothly. Clients may benefit from strategic consulting if they are:

• Looking for ways to hasten the pace of change
• Searching for fresh ideas and an objective perspective
• Rethinking the resource allocation process
• Redesigning the service delivery system
• Expanding the continuum of care
• Transitioning to evidence-based practices
• Considering which units or agencies are most ready for organizational change

Indicator Analysis

Indicator analysis is the process of using archival or 'secondary' data for the purpose of measuring a phenomenon that would be difficult or costly to assess directly. In the social sciences, this might mean looking at hospital overdose and police arrest records, among others, to determine the level of substance abuse in a community. In business, indicator analysis might consist of the use of census data as a way for businesses to locate new stores.

You might want to consider indicator analysis if you:

• Need to know whether your there is a need for your program or service
• Need to measure something that's hard to get people to talk about
• Are looking for a less costly way to understand social trends or phenomena

Statistical Analysis

At DATACORP, we see statistics not as an end in themselves but as a means to tell a story about the phenomenon in question - a story that has been looked at from every angle and depicted with all its nuances. Our staff have experience in virtually every aspect of statistical analysis, including sophisticated sampling and weighting methodologies. Prior experience includes surveys, clinical trials, evaluations, and outcome monitoring systems. DATACORP staff have also received recognition for their work in social indicator data analysis.

Data Management

Data management is a challenge faced by almost every organization in the new 'information age.' It includes a wide range of responsibilities - data collection, database development, data entry, data access policy, data documentation, archiving, and more. Data management is an extremely complicated task that is rarely addressed at the beginning of a project; instead, it is usually a crisis that makes agencies and businesses take a closer look at how they handle their information resources. This might mean discovering that an employee has overwritten crucial data and there is no backup file, a confidentiality breach, multiple 'working' data files, or that the data collected isn't the data the organization truly needs.

DATACORP specializes in helping both public and private organizations learn how to manage their data better. We are in the process of writing a book titled Strategic Data Management, and have helped numerous clients design databases that are customized to their needs and train staff in how to use their information management systems.

You might want to look for help with data management if you have:

• Found that multiple employees are making changes to the same file
• So many files you can't remember which is which
• Inherited data that is incomplete, inconsistent, or indecipherable
• Forgotten why you made changes to data in the past, or known you made changes to a data set but couldn't remember what those were

Survey Research

Surveys represent an incredibly valuable tool for government and businesses alike, with the ability to directly access individuals and poll them about their behaviors, preferences, and beliefs. They are used in a wide range of applications including political polling, academic research, marketing, and needs assessment. At the same time, surveys are, unfortunately, often ill conceived and unable to illuminate the subject they were originally designed to reflect. Survey research is an involved process, including creating surveys that are both reliable and valid, pilot testing, survey administration, data entry, data cleaning, and ultimately data analysis and report generation.

If you are considering conducting a survey or are looking for technical assistance with one you are already administering, DATACORP can help. We have extensive experience developing surveys of all lengths, ranging from a sample size of just a few to over 100,000. Let us teach you how to create and conduct a survey that will truly meet your needs.

You might want to consider conducting a survey if you:

• Need to gain a representative picture of the beliefs or behaviors of your constituency
• Are making a decision about your products or services that you want to be informed by facts
• Want to gain understanding of any number of social phenomena

Program Evaluation & Outcome Monitoring

Many program directors think the main benefit of evaluation is to show potential funders that their program is achieving its goals. Yet we believe that perhaps an even greater benefit of evaluation is the opportunity it presents to improve a program and help it better serve its population and meet its goals. Outside evaluation is an opportunity for stakeholders to see their programs through a fresh set of eyes. Only by taking a step back from the program can directors help guide it forward. At DATACORP, we believe that the relationship between evaluator and client is not an adversarial one, but rather a close partnership developed with the goal of making the program at hand the absolute best it can be.

You might want to consider program evaluation & outcome monitoring if you have:

• Confidence in your program's results and want to be able to showcase its success
• Questions about what parts of your program are most and least effective, and for whom
• Received a government contract that requires evaluation of your work