datalähtökohdista

Datalähtökohdista is a Finnish term describing the data-based starting points that underlie analysis, design, and decision-making. The phrase highlights that work should be grounded in empirical data and transparent data practices rather than intuition alone.

The concept covers data sources, data quality, context, and provenance. It includes the metadata and data lineage that show where data originates, how it has been collected, transformed, and aggregated, and how current results relate to original records. It also encompasses data governance issues such as access, privacy, consent, retention, and compliance.

In practice, working from datalähtökohdista means identifying the decision or question, mapping relevant data sources, assessing quality and representativeness, resolving inconsistencies, and documenting provenance. The analysis is designed around the data's strengths and limitations, with bias, timeliness, coverage, and uncertainty made explicit.

Applications span research, product development, and public policy, from evaluating user behavior to measuring program outcomes. The approach supports transparent reporting, reproducibility, and auditability by tracing results back to data sources and processing steps.

Challenges include data silos, incomplete or biased data, privacy restrictions, and changing data landscapes. The term underscores the need for ongoing data governance and update cycles to keep starting points valid. See also concepts such as data governance, data quality, data provenance, and data-driven decision making.