TY - JOUR
T1 - The Politics, Promises, and Perils of Data
T2 - Evidence-Driven Policy and Practice for Menstrual Health
AU - Winkler, Inga T.
AU - Bobel, Chris
AU - Houghton, Lauren C.
AU - Elhadad, Noémie
AU - Gruer, Caitlin
AU - Paranjothy, Vanessa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Society for Menstrual Cycle Research.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Data determine what we know about the menstrual cycle; they inform policy and program decisions; they can point us to neglected issues and populations. But collecting and analyzing data are complicated and often fraught processes, because data are political and subjective, decisions on what data we collect and what data we do not collect are not determined by accident. As a result, despite the significant potential of the current rise in attention to menstruation, we also see risks: a lack of a solid evidence base for program decisions and resulting sensationalization; concerns about data privacy; an overreliance on participants’ recall, on the one hand, while not involving participants adequately in decision making, on the other hand; and a lack of contextualized and disaggregated data. Yet better communication, contextualization, and collaboration can address many of these risks.
AB - Data determine what we know about the menstrual cycle; they inform policy and program decisions; they can point us to neglected issues and populations. But collecting and analyzing data are complicated and often fraught processes, because data are political and subjective, decisions on what data we collect and what data we do not collect are not determined by accident. As a result, despite the significant potential of the current rise in attention to menstruation, we also see risks: a lack of a solid evidence base for program decisions and resulting sensationalization; concerns about data privacy; an overreliance on participants’ recall, on the one hand, while not involving participants adequately in decision making, on the other hand; and a lack of contextualized and disaggregated data. Yet better communication, contextualization, and collaboration can address many of these risks.
KW - Menstruation
KW - collaboration
KW - data
KW - disaggregation
KW - menstrual tracking apps
KW - mixed methods
KW - technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171504956&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/23293691.2020.1820240
DO - 10.1080/23293691.2020.1820240
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85171504956
SN - 2329-3691
VL - 7
SP - 227
EP - 243
JO - Women's Reproductive Health
JF - Women's Reproductive Health
IS - 4
ER -