Given our community-based research approach at MA Appleseed, we collect data in several ways. Whether qualitative or quantitative, we center racial equity in our process to ensure that those impacted by the issues we study have their voices heard.
We explained focus groups, qualitative surveys, and semi-structured interviews in past blog posts. This post will dig into quantitative data requests from state agencies, the remaining data collection method we employ in our research.
In some cases, having access to large datasets from state agencies is helpful to our research. Analyzing this type of data allows us to uncover patterns of inequity, for example in school discipline statistics as seen on our School Discipline Data Dashboard.
We can take a few paths to gain access to data from state agencies. We prioritize building relationships with people in state agencies so they can understand how we will use the data, opening a line of communication that is collaborative rather than adversarial. For example, our ongoing relationship with the data team at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education fostered our creation and updating of the School Discipline Data Dashboard.
In other cases, we opt to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which consists of asking for specific information from a state agency that they can either comply with, deny, or ask for more time to address. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Act, along with the federal Freedom of Information Act, most records from state agencies are available to the public upon request.
A salient example of public records requests stems from our work with the Mass Speaks Coalition, which works to eliminate language barriers at state agencies, so that Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) residents have equal access to the services and information they need. To better understand state agencies’ current spending on language access services and gauge how much the Language Access and Inclusion bill would cost when implemented, we submitted requests to state agencies. We asked for information about the amount of money the agencies spent on various services, such as in-person interpretation, telephone interpretation, and translation services. The information we received, which we compiled into a cost analysis fact sheet, informed our work on this legislation.
In certain cases, quantitative data from large state institutions can provide the information we need to better understand social problems and find appropriate solutions.
This post concludes the About Our Research blog series! We hope the information we shared gave you some insights into the “why” and “how” of our work at MA Appleseed.
