What data can tell us
Whilst it is important to use data to inform our work, it is
also necessary to consider the worth of that data, and
what it can actually tell us about the ‘problem’ we think
we might have. As mentioned above, data collected by
the police and that used to inform DfT annual reports
can be difficult to interpret, as some mobile phone
use by drivers goes undetected even when a collision
occurs.
Other sources simply provide KSI or crash data, which
can be usefully manipulated to understand where
the greatest risk for KSIs or crashes lie, but generally
do not tell us whether that issue is related to mobile
phones specifically. They are useful to identify where
(geographically) or who (in terms of age or gender)
our focus might need to be on, but more is needed to
recognise whether the issue there is indeed mobile
phone use by drivers, or whether by tackling that, you
are ignoring a different problem. A combination of
getting hold of the data, but asking questions about
its relevance and value, is often the most useful and
meaningful way of ‘understanding the problem’.
How to use data
combined with some other form of data, such as age,
gender, road location, reasons for driving, or reasons
for offending, amongst a range of other pieces of
information to build our understanding. The rest of this
volume gives you some ideas for when you get to that
point.
The more forms of other data we have to put
together, the better. Age and gender are useful, as
an understanding of the age group and gender most
frequently associated with the risky behaviour can then
help to shape what you do next and where you go to
do it. This is important as research has found different
forms of approach are more or less useful for different
age groups and genders. Geographical location may
be used to target an approach at a particular area
(whether that be as education to schools in that area, or
enforcement on certain roads). Asking people for their
reasons for offending can also be interesting and helps
us understand what’s driving the problem behaviour.
The RAC Reports on Motoring¹ and AA Populus
Polls² provide some national data relating to driver
behaviour and attitudes regarding mobile phone
use by drivers.
Once you have gained access to, or created your own,
data, this can be manipulated in a number of ways. The
type of data and programme that it is inputted into, as
well as your own talents in this area, will influence what
you can do with that data and the conclusions that can
be drawn from it.
To conduct analyses, it is necessary to have some form
of primary statistic, which may include the number
of deaths or injuries, the number of self-reported or
observed offences, or the number of crashes linked
to mobile phone use by drivers. These should be
¹ RAC (nd). RAC Report on Motoring. Available from: https://www.rac.co.uk/report-on-motoring
² AA (nd). AA Populus Motoring Panel. Available from: https://www.theaa.com/about-us/public-affairs/aa-populus-motoring-panel
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