McGrew, K. 2014. The importance of data collection to social housing. Enrichment Record 19, 20-21.

Data collection can help facilitate the progress of social housing programs within individual institutions and in the industry as a whole. One benefit is that it provides the ability to address preconceived ideas (“myths”) with facts. It can help facilities make programmatic decisions using actual data, and be used to systematically address operational concerns. It can also unveil best practices. Through data collection, improvements in animal well-being can be quantified to show progress towards animal welfare goals. Sharing the knowledge acquired from data collection at various facilities can be useful in helping other programs grow and flourish, thereby adding to the forward progression of the industry.