How to Leverage Data and Conduct Research
This post is a summary of a presentation given by Dario Giuliani, Director of Briter Bridges, during a workshop with Venture for Africa fellows on Conducting Research.
It is no news that data and research are important aspects of building stronger businesses. However, in developing markets, one of the problems you are likely to encounter when conducting research is a lack of quality data. Information either does not exist in a complete sense or if it does, it lacks validity and reliability.
That being said, here are a few things to consider when conducting research in Africa, by leveraging what is available and obtainable.
1. Has anyone already done this?
Rather than diving straight into collecting your own data, it helps to identify and evaluate what is already available.
What is the groundwork already covered by others and what still needs to be done within your research topic?
Rather than diving straight into collecting your own data, it helps to identify and evaluate what is already available. Spend some time searching for keywords related to the data and taking note of any good sources you come across.
All sources are not made equal, but here is a list of three sources you can start with (put together by Bennett O’Brien).
- BBC News Country Profiles: This site provides in-depth reports and profiles on every country in the world. These profiles outline the political, economic, geographical, social, and historical aspects of each country. They also provide important information such as population, life expectancy, currency and the major languages spoken in each nation.
- International Trade Center: The International Trade Center is an organization whose goal is to support the internationalization of small and medium-sized businesses. The organization’s site, intracen.org, is a fantastic resource for international market research, providing a wide variety of incredible research tools.
- Internet World Stats: This website provides data about internet usage by country. It can be very helpful for any company that makes electronic equipment designed for internet use, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, wearable electronic devices, and others.
Beyond sources like these, also try to seek out any academic papers that may have been produced about your area of interest. These usually include the methodologies used, which in turn can provide you with more clues for where to source your data from.
Once you’ve managed to gather whatever data is available, here are quick tips to keep at the back of your mind while interpreting or drawing insights from data.
2. Find the gatekeepers
Identify the repositories associated with information on the specific sector your research is based on. Get access and speak to people who can deliver a lot of information on your topic with little effort e.g. tech hubs, VCs, associations, etc.
3. Beware of biases (Is the methodology clear?)
Bias is defined as any tendency which prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question. In research, bias occurs when “systematic error” is introduced into sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others.
This is why it is important to always investigate the thought process behind the data you’ve collected or the insights you are looking at. There are a few ways to guard against bias including verifying with more data sources, checking for alternative explanations and reviewing your findings with peers.
4. Use secondary sources to benchmark and align
Secondary data refers to information that is collected by someone other than the primary user. Sources of secondary data include books, personal sources, journals, newspapers, websites, government records etc. With the advent of electronic media and the internet, some secondary data sources have become more easily accessible.
However, whenever you are using secondary sources of data, remember to benchmark and align with your use case. For example, the data available may not match the research question: there may be too much data, there may be gaps or the data may have been collected for a completely different purpose. Also, the measures, for example between countries/states/historical periods, or between how industries are classified may not be directly comparable e.g. the interchangeable nature of incubators and accelerators in the tech space can inflate or deflate total numbers.
5. Visualization is storytelling
In a world where we are overwhelmed by certain types of data but desperate for meaning, data storytelling helps connect the dots. To do this well, keep your narrative in mind and weave together a cohesive story as you present your data. A combination of substance and aesthetics attracts, informs, engages and compels those viewing your research. Remember that all content is interpreted as data by the brain, but the highest-value content provides more than knowledge; it provides insight.
We hope these tips we’ve outlined help you conduct better research going forward.
Let us know in the comments any other strategies that have been helpful for you.
