REPLY "Flawless Consulting" and SD (SD6628)

[SDMAIL Jack Homer]

Posted by  "Jack Homer" <jhomer at comcast.net>

Kim Warren writes:

> I can't speak for how consultants in general approach the challenge of
> embarking on data collection, but have come across everything from [a]
> "give us everything you have got, and we will see what it tells us", to
> [b] " we have this 'issue tree' of possible cause-effect structure of
> the situation, so give us the data on the items in this picture", to [c]
> "our hypothesis is that the causes of the issue are X, Y, Z ... So give
> us data on that so we can show we are right".
>

Data collection is very important to me as a modeler and consultant.  Useful 
data, like the model's structure itself, emerge iteratively over the course 
of a project.  We start in some projects by casting the net wide in an 
exploratory fashion, when there is no established set of key variables.  But 
in other projects the client may want to start with an established set of 
variables, and so initially we pursue only those. However we start, though, 
I always find that iterative model development also leads to the need for 
more data, sometimes far afield from where we started.  I find that this 
process is essential for converging on a model that is both insightful and 
persuasive.

I once described my experience with data collection for SD models as follows 
("Why we iterate: scientific modeling in theory and practice", SDR 12(1), 1996):
"Data collection requires persistence, patience, and immersion in messy details.  
Clients know more and have access to more information than they initially think 
they do.  The modeler often ends up getting involved as a data detective, compiler, 
and analyst...Some important data will be in error, irrelevant, missing, or slow 
to emerge...One may need to look for other sources for data, or consider using 
different variables or levels of aggregation to capture the same phenomena."

Those words still ring true for me today, with another decade-plus of consulting 
under my belt.

- Jack Homer
Posted by  "Jack Homer" <jhomer at comcast.net>
posting date  Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:13:31 -0400