1. Mobilizing Results: Working with PiT Data
Aaron Segaert
November 2015
Module 7 – Mobilizing Results

2. Now that we have the data, what do we do?
Clean and prepare the data
Get set up for analysis
There is always a possibility of data entry errors or other mistakes. As you work with the data, keep an eye out for contradictory or nonsensical results
If something looks very wrong, delete the incorrect bit of information (i.e. treat it as missing information). You can still “count” the person and use the rest of their information

3. Results: Simple and to the point
PiT count results are intuitive, simple and easy for people to understand:
“On any given night, about 200 people are homeless”
No complicated statistics or methods are required, mostly counts and percentages:
“5.7% have Aboriginal ancestry”
“27% are female”
“14 of the 26 people surveyed on the street have not used a shelter in the past year”

4. Small numbers
Aside from Canada’s largest cities, the total number of people counted will be in the hundreds or even dozens, so some categories will have very small numbers:
Key Demographics N %
Male
139
72.4%
Female 52
27.1%
Veteran 5
2.6%
Aboriginal 11
3.1%
Recent Immigrant/refugee
Child
Youth 37
19.3%
Adult
143
74.5%
Senior 7
3.6%

5. Use charts and graphs

6. % of respondents

7. Show detailed info in tables
“Fifteen percent are episodically homeless”
Times homeless in past three years
One
135
70.3%
Two 28
14.6%
Three or more 29
15.1%

8. Play to the strengths of PiT
An opportunity to put shelter statistics in context:
How many people are not being counted in shelter statistics? There is scant real-world data on this question
“20% of respondents were sleeping in locations other than a shelter, and 53% reported not using a shelter in the past year”
“Overall, 92.7% of those enumerated were either in a shelter on the night of the count or used a shelter at some time during the past year”

9. Play to the strengths of PiT
What are the characteristics of people who do not use shelters? Are some groups less likely to use shelters?
Demographics
Used a shelter in past year?
Yes No
Male
91.3%
8.7%
Female
96.2%
3.8%
Veteran
60.0%
40.0%
Aboriginal
81.8%
18.2%
Youth
91.9%
8.1%
Adult
92.3%
7.7%
Senior
100.0%
0.0%
Total Sample
92.7%
7.3%

10. Compare and contrast
Use existing community data from Statistics Canada and other sources to compare and contrast with the general population:
“Seniors are under-represented relative to the general population, with only 3.6% of those surveyed aged 65 or over”
“2.6% reported having military service, about the same as the percentage of Veterans in the wider community”

11. “The proportion of males is higher on the street than in shelters”
Compare and contrast
Look at differences between groups, e.g., those surveyed on the street vs. in shelter:
“The proportion of males is higher on the street than in shelters”
Location
% Male
Street
83.8%
Shelter
73.7%

12. Don’t expect big surprises
It’s okay if there are no earth-shattering results! The results should be interpreted with caution if they show something unexpected. After all, this is a single point in time
If your community is thought to have a high rate of Aboriginal homelessness, or lots of people migrating to the community and becoming homeless, etc., the results will probably show this
But you never know…maybe the results will force people to reconsider their preconceptions about the homeless population