Whether you’re calculating summary statistics or linking datasets to data visualisation and dashboarding tools, may best practices help you accomplish more with the data you’ve gathered.
Consider using an M&E platform like TolaData to generate datasets that adhere to these best practices. We’re not fans of overcomplicating things, which is why we’ve designed a user-friendly interface for entering your data, as well as features that support exporting your data in an analysis-ready format.
Last but not least, when it comes to spreadsheet dataset, we’d highly recommend using Google Sheets instead of Microsoft Excel to facilitate sharing, collaboration, and keep your data safe in the unfortunate event when your computer crashes.
You can even install the Google Drive Offline app to sync your files to your computer so that you can access and work on them offline. It’s also good practice to link your dataset from a digital data collection tool or Google Sheets to Track to use the data as evidence in your indicator plan, or share it out as a live stream using Track’s JSON feed.
We hope you’ve found our tips useful in preparing your datasets for analysis. Don’t hesitate to let us know what worked (or didn’t work 😯) for you — we’re open to feedback!
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