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  2. Annex
  3. NIPN Guidance Notes
  4. Managing and analysing data
  5. Principles and guidance for data analysis
  6. Implications for data analysis (2/4)

Implications for data analysis (2/4)

Principle 4: Question provides answers that lead to actionable recommendations and decisions

  • “In-house” or “country-owned” data analyses can have a higher impact on policy makers than sophisticated data analyses carried out by international organisations.
  • Simple descriptive analyses are sometimes more telling than complex analyses because the message is clear and the data can be presented in a simple and visual way. A simple bar chart (Figure 1) is more easily understood and is more likely to provide actionable recommendations than a regression table (Figure 2).

(Also refer to section 4: Communicating and disseminating findings)

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Figure 1. Example of Ghana MICS 2011

(source: REACH)

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Figure 2. Example of Niger causal analysis regression model

(source: FEWS NET)

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