By Bojan Fürst

We live in the age of information, with more data at our fingertips than ever before.

Sometimes, it’s helpful. Often, it’s overwhelming. And, quite often, it is not the exact data that we need. We’ve all seen what can happen when decisions are made based on “bad data,” but with so many numbers and statistics at our disposal, how can we tell the good from the not-so-good? And once we find the numbers we trust, what do we do with them? 

The Harris Centre's Regional Analytics Laboratory (RAnLab) can help. Their Data to Decisions educational series is designed to take the mystery out of collecting and making sense of numbers. 

Different modules focus on different aspects of data collection and use. For example, there is a module to help you understand how to assess data quality and consistency. You can learn how to find data by geographical area or how to access and use data from Statistics Canada and other federal, provincial, and territorial sources. 

Knowing where to find the data you need, and how to interpret it, means stronger, more evidence-based decision making. 

RAnLab is an initiative of Memorial University’s Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development. Data to Decisions is sponsored in part by the Future Skills Centre.

Bojan Fürst is the Knowledge Mobilization Manager with the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University of Newfoundland. It’s a complicated way of saying that his job is to match community needs with university resources. He also hosts Rural Routes, a podcast that explores what it means to be "rural" in the 21st century.