Detroit Kids Data (DKD) - Using This Site

What The DKD Profile Information Can Tell Me

Before using this data users need to be aware of a number of considerations for interpreting and applying results as presented in the DKD Profile

Rankings (Reverse Order: worse to better)

The rankings show how a specific community compares on a specific indicator to the other communities that make up its County or comparison area. The rankings are in reverse order: a ranking of "1" means an area has the highest value for that indicator (i.e. highest mortality rate). Since there are between 18 and 32 districts in each of the 4 DKD Areas any ranking in the single digits is most likely indicative of a measure that is higher than the average for its comparison area.

One way to use the "DKD District Profile Page" would be to identify and examine the single digit rankings as potential priority areas. In addition, a reference value for the entire DKD Area appears at the top of each set of rankings. The reference number can be used to see if a particular community is above or below this value.

The indicator maps for each DKD Area display the rankings in three groups: upper, middle, and lower. Communities in the upper category probably have meaningfully higher values (darker shade on the map) than those in the lower category (lighter shade on the map).

Another way to evaluate whether a community has a higher or lower value is to divide a community ’s score by the reference value. Those that are 25% higher (lower) than the reference value may be viewed as slightly elevated (decreased) and those that are 50% higher (lower) may be viewed as elevated (decreased). In all cases, any comparison of values or ranks should be considered in terms of the number of events the value is based upon (see understanding data).

Value vs. Number

The “DKD Measure Profile ” provides both the value of a measure and the number of events that the value is based upon. When considering the effect or impact of a factor or characteristic in an area, the user must look at both the level of the measure (value) and the number of people in the area with the factor or characteristic (number). The value gives the relative effect while the number gives the absolute effect and the overall effect can be thought of as a product of the two (value times number).

Map View

The “DKD Map View ” allows the user to examine the geographic variation of the measure under consideration within the comparison “DKD Area ” (e.g. District 48207 within Detroit). Maps present DKD Districts colored in 3 shades of the domain color.

Geographic pattern apparent

Geographic pattern not readily identifiable

Graph View

The “DKD Graph View” allows the user to graphically examine the numeric variation of the measure under consideration within the comparison “DKD Area ” (e.g. all districts within Detroit). Graphs present DKD Districts colored in 3 shades of the domain color ordered from worse to better, usually high to low. Graphs that have a slope (slant) as opposed to a level appearance indicate variation of the measure within the comparison area. Graphs that have a small number of bars that are either longer or shorter than most bars indicate a small number of areas with substantial variance from the comparison group average.

Some Variation

Little Variation

Some (2) that are different (higher)

Overlay Map View

The “DKD Overlay Map View ” allows the user to view 2 map layers on a single map. The layers may represent 2 factors (values or numbers) or both dimensions (value and number) of a single factor.

2 Factor overlay map (both values)	Viewing 2 factors at the same time allows the user to observe if areas high (or low) on the first factor are also high (or low) on the second factor. This example shows 4 DKD Districts that are high (dark orange) on one factor, are also high (crosshatch) on the second factor.
Value & number of a single factor	Overlaying the number and value of the same factor allows the user to determine if areas that have a high (or low) value are also the same places that have a high (or low) number. This example shows 4 DKD Districts with high values (dark green) also have high numbers (crosshatch).