the datadude a simple program to simplify your life child welfare research center center for social...

The DataDudeA Simple Program to Simplify Your Life

Child Welfare Research CenterCenter for Social Services ResearchUniversity of California, Berkeley

Barbara Needell, Principal Investigator – California Children’s Services ArchiveBill Dawson, Associate Research SpecialistColleen Henry, MSW Student Research AssistantWendy Piccus, Children’s Archive Research AssistantDaniel Webster, Research Specialist

What is the DataDude?

An Excel file that allows you to: Download a series of reports from the UCB

CWS/CMS reports website

Summarize selected information in a form suitable for review and or graphing

Graph the data

Downloading a Series of Reports from the UCB CWS/CMS Reports Website

The DataDude allows you to:

Download a series of reports (i.e.,all available time periods) for a CWS/CMS report of your choosing

Download a Series of Reports from the UCB CWS/CMS Reports Website in 3 Steps:

Results: The DataDude Downloads a Series of Reports to an Excel Workbook

Reviewing and Summarizing Data Across Periods of Time

The DataDude allows you to: Summarize selected information in a form

suitable for review and or graphing

Examine All Time Periods for a CWS/CMS Report On One Easy To Read Excel Worksheet

Review and Summarize Data Across Periods of Time in 4 Steps:

Summarize Data in One Table

Results: Summarize Data from All Points in Time to One Table

Review Data

Graphing Data

MS Excel allows you to: Take the data that you have summarized

using the DataDude and create a graph

Graph Data: Select Time Periods & Rows

Select the MS Excel Graphing Wizard:

Point In Time: Child Welfare Supervised Foster Care By County

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10,000

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Alameda

Contra Costa

Fresno

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Orange

Sacramento

Santa Clara

Los Angeles

How Do I Get My Own Copy of the DataDude?

1. Go to: http://cssr.berkeley.edu/datadude

2. Right-Click “DataDude Tool*”

3. Choose the “Save Target As” Option

4. Save the DataDude to a location on your computer

5. Open the DataDude

Potential Problems with Downloading your own version of the DataDude

Wrong Version of MS Excel Unable to Enable Macros: Security

Settings Formatting

Wrong version of MS Excel

Although resources have not allowed extensive testing, the DataDude should operate on all versions of MS Windows 95 and above and all versions of MS Excel 2000 and above.

Unable to Enable Macros

Troubleshooting

What if I have a summary table where the columns do not have the same titles?

If a column in a summary table has an incorrect title, this indicates that the source worksheet has a different layout or different number of columns than others in the series.

Identify the problem time period by the date indicated for the column in the first row.

Either remove the time period from the summary table by deleting the column or replace it with the correct column by manually copying the correct column into the summary table (and replacing the incorrect data).

Troubleshooting (continued)

What if I have a summary table where the rows don’t line up or where it seems like there are missing rows?

Ensure that data columns are aligned at the top. In some cases, slight variations in page layout will result in columns in your summary table having different start rows for the data. Correct by cutting and pasting the problem columns so that they are top aligned with others in the table.

If a column is missing rows, refer to the source worksheet. Determine which row(s) are missing. Cut and paste the appropriate portions of the column on the summary sheet to correct the problem

Troubleshooting (continued)

If you have difficulty determining which row(s) are missing for which time periods:

Create a summary table for column A. This will create a table containing the row headings from each of your source worksheets.

Examine this summary and determine which worksheets are missing which row headings.

Adjust the data summary table by cutting and pasting the appropriate portions of the column.

For More Information Contact

datadudehelp@lists.berkeley.edu

or go to

http://cssr.berkeley.edu/datadude