Guide to types of data

Each type of data has characteristics that help identify how it was gathered and what can be interpreted from it.

Qualitative

Uses narrative or descriptive data rather than numbers. For example, a description of the views and attitudes of those receiving or providing a service.

Quantitative

Gives numerical results. For example, the percentage of participants completing a programme.

Baseline

This is data for the period before the service change, to compare with the period after implementation of the change.

Benchmarking

This is performance data on your service that can be compared with similar data collected on other services locally and nationally.

Primary

This is additional new data.

Secondary

This is existing data and will include information you or others already collect. For example, monitoring data, local and national audits, census data.

Sampling

• It is important to consider sample size, e.g., how many people from the population you need for your evaluation. It is important that the sample size is feasible, practical and reasonable for the population studied.
• There are different approaches to identifying your sample. These include ‘convenience sampling, purposive sampling, snowballing sampling.
• www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/research-methods/1a-epidemiology/methods-of-sampling-population