New report spotlights data
Charts, infographics make numbers easy to digest, compare
“Our ability to do great things with data will make a real difference in every aspect of our lives.”
—Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America
Good data contribute to good decisions. The ability to access, analyze and act on data is critical to the health of organizations and communities across Oregon. This proves especially true in rural areas where geographic isolation and smaller populations require additional resourcefulness. High-quality data help communities uncover needs, reveal trends, track progress and identify successes. Without it, decision makers must resort to best guesses.
A new report, Oregon by the Numbers, pulls together a suite of community measures and displays them in an easy-to-digest format that includes charts and infographics.
It features compact county portraits for all 36 Oregon counties as well as corresponding measure profiles, with rankings whenever possible. It targets decision makers, including business and educational leaders, local and state government officials, nonprofit professionals, and engaged residents. Any interested citizen should find it useful.
Oregon by the Numbers is a collaborative effort between The Ford Family Foundation and Oregon State University Extension Service. It is an outgrowth of the Foundation’s long-term investment in the Rural Communities Explorer, an online tool that helps leaders explore data and statistics about their own communities.
“We need to understand the reality of what is happening across all of our communities,” says Anne Kubisch, president of The Ford Family Foundation. “To aid that process, we need good data.”
Oregon By the Numbers identifies six categories: demo-graphics, social, education, economic, health and infrastructure. The report features data for each measure. The “social” category, for example, includes county-specific data on food insecurity, child poverty, child abuse, crime and voter participation.
The data surrounding these critical measures are organized in two ways: by county and by measure. “This approach makes it possible for community leaders to immediately find valuable county-specific information, as well as to place that information in a statewide context,” says Kasi Allen, director of Learning and Knowledge Management for The Ford Family Foundation.
Oregon By the Numbers is available for free to residents of Oregon and Siskiyou County, Calif., through the Foundation’s Select Books program. Others may download a PDF version for no charge.
