Apr 10
22
After finding dependable information, below are guidelines for broadly verifying information used in analysis within your own department:
- Use information you developed yourself. To be completely in control of your own analysis, you may limit source information to that developed within the department. The occasions when you can reasonably do this will be rather limited. Using only your data is practical when your analysis is limited to departmental factors.
- Compare your information to other sources. Many forms of information are easily verified by checking with a second source. Also, the existence of a second source could eliminate unnecessary research for your analysis.
- Review methods for reporting change from one period to another. Be extremely careful in developing any form of analysis involving reporting of changes in factors from one time period to another. There is a vast difference between reporting actual change and degree of change; some methods may distort the truth rather than represent it.
- Be fair. Avoid selecting only that body of information that supports your own bias. Because you are human, you are subject to human error. One form of error is to seek out information that supports the conclusion you have already drawn, or that you would like others to draw. You may do this unconsciously, even when struggling to remain as objective as possible. A good analyst will always remain open-minded to the possibility that basic assumptions are flawed. No one likes to admit this, especially if a number of hours have already been invested in preparing the analysis. But remember, it’s better to catch the error before making a request based on flawed data, than to proceed knowing your claim is wrong.
- Represent the other point of view to add credibility to your report. A decision maker will be impressed by a comprehensive and well-research report. The same decision-maker will be even more especially impressed when you go the extra step: playing devil’s advocate and pointing out arguments against what you’re recommending. This is a powerful technique for strengthening your argument. By presenting arguments against your ideas before anyone else has the chance to do so, you defuse the point, show why and how it’s flawed, and then direct attention back to the argument you really want to make: why your idea should be given approval.
- When results are interpretive, say so in your report. Never let it be assumed that the numbers you present are absolute. If you’re using estimates, disclose that fact in a way that there can be no mistake. And if the numbers were developed from other data in an interpretive form, say this clearly.
