The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘How to analyze information’

Over the past month, I have been paying close attention to the analytics for The Invisible Mentor blog, and I am sometimes amazed by what landed readers on the site. Today, I want to highlight some of the posts that landed people on the site from search engines. Next week we’ll return to the regular schedule: Adventures in Learning, Booked for Mentoring, Wisdom of Life and the Invisible Mentor Interviews.

Cover of The Prophet

1. Einstein Distraction Index: A Method of Deep Focus
2. Review: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald
3. Summary of A Technique for Producing Great Ideas by James Webb Young
4. 2011 Interviews for Mentoring
5. 2011 Books for Mentoring
6. How to Analyze Information
7. How to Master a Subject
8. What Did Napoleon Hill Omit? Invisible Counselors vs. Invisible Mentors
9. Wisdom Wednesday: Charles Babbage, Father of the Computer
10. Review of The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
11. Enchiridion By Epictetus: A Book Review
12. Review of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

In 2012, I will work harder at integrating ancient and modern wisdom to serve you better. The ancient wisdom will be in the people I profile and some of the books I review, and the modern wisdom will be in the people I interview and some of the books I review. If you have other suggestions, please let me know. Please write your thoughts in the comments section below.

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The Prophet, The Prince, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: The Five Authorized Versions (Classics Club).

There are three critical elements when analyzing information, and in fact are useful when working on consulting projects. It’s important to ensure that the stakeholders are aware of the distinction.

1. What you know
2. What you don’t know
3. What you assume

When you work on projects, it’s impossible to gather all the information on the topic, and it would be very expensive to do so. Based on your  return on investment (ROI), you have to decide when enough information is enough. In your client report,, clearly state what you know to be a fact, what you don’t know, and your assumptions based on your experiences. So when decisions are being made based on your deliverables, your clients will know how to proceed. Please also read How to Analyze Information.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Google via Apture

Every day we are bombarded with problems to solve and decisions to make, and the quality of our solutions and decisions are only as good as the information they are based on. With so much information at our fingertips, how can we systematically analyze the information for better results. As a professional with over 15 years experience in research, I constantly have to analyze the data gathered, so the information requested by my client is streamlined and not overwhelming. Here is a simple process that could help you:

Analyze Information

• Skim and Scan
• Determine accuracy, relevance and reliability of information
• Differentiate
• Identify propaganda, bias
• Recognize omissions and faulty logic
• Recognize interrelationships

Step 1. Review the questions

Review the questions generated before the information was gathered. Why was this particular information necessary? What questions was it supposed to answer? What kinds of decisions will be made based on this information? Renew your understanding of the central issues and key questions.

Unanticipated results should not be ignored. Putting information together will often raise important, unforeseen and relevant questions. Note these for future reference and point them out when presenting the results.

Step 2. Organize the information

• Gather together all relevant information that has been collected
• Sort information into parts which belong together
• Some may have already been analyzed. Some may be partly analyzed, and some may need analysis

Step 3. Decide how to analyze information

Analysis could simply be adding up numbers and averaging them, or comparing information to examine the relationship of one thing to another or two things together. Pay attention to the source of the information.

Step 4. Analyze the information

• Look out for biased information and faulty logic
• Take note of similarities
• Contrast information by setting two things in opposition to show the differences
• Relate pieces of information to establish relationships between and among them
• Take note of emerging themes
• Identify gaps in the information
• Do you have the information you need to solve the problem or make the decision?

Step 5. Integrate the information

Put the analyzed parts together in a way that tells the complete story. It is impossible to gather all the information you will ever need, so there are times when you have to make intelligent assumptions.

Note: Pay attention to where you collect your information. Good sources are government websites, university sources, commercial online databases, which you can readily access from most public library portals, community watch dog agencies and reputable consumer groups are a few that readily come to mind.

What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.

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