Data is important to assist in decision making. Those decisions can be made by modeling and analyzing data to provide objective results, that will remove certain preferences and hunches from the decision-making process. The data can also be used to develop key process indicators towards goals.
Data is important because it can be used to assist in decision making processes by providing objective evidence and results through modeling and analysis techniques, thereby removing potentially harmful human biases and preferences. Furthermore, data can be used to develop key process indicators and metrics, thus providing objective evidence of progress toward reaching goals.
Decision making using data allows for the following aspects:
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Making Confident Decisions | a. People tend to make decisions on feelings or intuition even when presented with contrary data. b. An individual can struggle to comprehend complex data, whereas models can process and provide further comprehension of data. c. Facts shown by responsibly collected data provide objective evidence for more rational decision making. |
| 2. Being Proactive | a. Reactive decisions made after events to fix mistakes can have high cost. b. Data can be used to recognize problems prior to events, leading to proactive decisions at a lower cost. c. Use of data assists in strategic planning for upcoming periods instead of relying on gut feeling and then having to react after-the-fact. |
| 3. Optimizing Resources | a. Inaccurate decision making can impact budgets and miss objectives. b. Resources can be utilized effectively and efficiently through use of data by more objectively understanding where resources will have the best impact. |
| 4. Speeding Up Decision- Making | a. Improved access and gathering of data can increase interdepartmental work and harmonization. b. When data is more accessible, output increases through decreasing the hurdles to making intelligent decisions. |
Source: Hannah, A. (March 6, 2021). “The Importance of Data-Driven Decisions in Higher Ed.” – https://www.othot.com/blog/higher-ed-data-decision-making