Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Frame Your Issue
Overview
For this assignment, you will provide the context for your issue and identify preexisting organizational data as well as the data you will collect from people in your organization. You must address a specific issue or problem occurring in your own organization.

(1)  Description of the Issue
Identify your issue, then frame the issue carefully, explaining the performance gap and potential causes. The performance gap is the difference between actual performance and expected performance and may refer to organizational programs, processes, practices, or human performance.

Discuss the influence of the larger systems related to your issue. Identify the system's boundaries you have established to delineate and frame your issue. Cite data that inform and support your description.

(2)  Data
Discuss your information needs relative to the problem or issue, incorporating the following three areas: 

Existing Data: Describe or list existing records, survey, archival, document, or other existing data and information your organization collects and maintains, and how these data are stored and/or reported:

Explain how this organizational evidence and data that supports your framing of the problem. Be specific.

Is there additional institutional or publicly available information you will examine to deepen your understanding of the problem?

Note: Existing data are not to be confused with library research or information or data available about the issue in general. Locate the data your own organization collects and maintains about the issue. This may include your own department, school, and/or district- or university-level data.

Interview Data: Discuss other data or information needed to understand this issue and how you will collect it from a small number of stakeholders:

What is the development question related to the issue that will guide your data collection and planning process?

Why do you need this information? How will this information potentially lead to a better improvement project design?

How will it help you formulate interview or focus-group questions?

Are there other data collection methods in addition to individual or focus-group interviews that will help answer the development question?

With whom will you need to collaborate?

What is your initial plan for gathering this information? (Of whom will I need to ask questions?  From whom will I need to gather information?)

Memo or Journal Data (Your observations, reflections, insights): Describe plans you have to observe other evidence related to the issue as part of your journal or memos. These could include discussions among colleagues, informal conversations with stakeholders that occur as a natural part of your workday, observations about the issue during meetings, and so on.


Guidelines
Organize your plan in two main sections: Description of the Issue and Data.
Under the Data heading, include three subsections titled Existing Data, Interview Data, and Journal Data.
Do not answer the questions prompts one by one. The questions are provided to help convey the scope of the expected response for this assignment. Instead, present several well-developed paragraphs that address the use of data in your organization and your data collection plan to build on your understanding of the issue.