Analytics
10/28/15
How to Choose your own Adventure when it comes to Research
One of the things we’ve been doing at Corona this year that I’ve really enjoyed is resurrecting our book club. I enjoy it because it’s one way to think about the things we are doing from a bigger picture point of view, which is a welcome contrast to the project-specific thinking we are normally doing. […]
By Kate DarwentRead More
10/13/15
Weight on What Matters
In May, Kate and I went to AAPOR’s 70th Annual Conference in Hollywood, FL. Kate did a more timely job of summarizing our learnings, but now that things have had some time to settle, I thought I’d discuss an issue that came up in several presentations, most memorably in Andy Peytchev’s presentation on Weighting Adjustments […]
By Beth MulliganRead More
8/27/15
Graphs: An effective tool, but use them carefully
Ahh…the graph. Where would the business world be without them? While some of us are just as content looking through a giant spreadsheet full of numbers, graphs can help to illustrate the story more effectively for number geeks and math haters alike. However, while graphs can be a great tool, there are certainly times when […]
By Matt HerndonRead More
7/14/14
Explaining a complex world simply and incorrectly
We got a kick out of Tyler Vigen’s blog which demonstrates that mining data doesn’t mean a whole lot if you don’t know what you’re doing. He looks at large databases to find nominal correlations between completely unrelated variables. Let’s see if you can come up with some theories to explain why divorce rates in […]
By Kevin RainesRead More
5/27/14
Yes, that college degree is still worth the cost of attendance
Here at Corona, we help organizations make strategic decisions via our research and strategy services. But individuals can also use research to make strategic decisions. We read a lot these days about the cost of higher education. While rises in health care costs get more attention, inflation in higher education costs have actually outpaced them, […]
By Kevin RainesRead More
5/20/14
Using data to improve your life
It’s easy to dream of all of the ways in which organizations can use data to further their business. The fun doesn’t have to only be left up to organizations, though: have you ever stopped to think about all of the ways data can be used in everyday life? Similar to organizations, individuals can benefit […]
By Matt HerndonRead More
10/23/13
Big data is not required for big insights
You’ve probably heard a lot about Big Data. Big Data is going to change the world. Big Data is going to change how organizations are run. Big Data is going to clean our garage and walk our dog. Big Data vs. Small/Medium Data And maybe Big Data will do that–for big organizations. If you’re […]
By Kevin RainesRead More
5/23/13
Sometimes beautiful data is only skin deep
We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of conveying data visually lately (ok, and not-so-lately…here are posts from 2008 and 2011), and you have no doubt recently heard a thing or two about big data. And while we love beautiful infographics, and the power of big data (and medium data), we must be careful not […]
By David KennedyRead More
3/1/13
How’s your driving? Using data to answer your questions.
You’ve probably heard about auto insurance companies offering discounts based on actual driving behavior (collected by a device plugged into the car). Progressive’s Snapshot discount is one such example that has been heavily promoted. Why are insurance companies turning to these devices? One w0rd: risk. The more accurately they can gauge their risk of having […]
By David KennedyRead More
2/4/13
The Power of Numbers
Numbers are an interesting thing. We all have an innate sense of quantities, but numbers are a culturally agreed upon format for representing those quantities. When we are trying to convey quantitative information to other people, the choice between “7 days” vs. “1 week” or “100 out of 300” vs. “1 out of 3” often […]
By Kate DarwentRead More