Outcomes
The team knows how the data represents the stakeholders, and that knowledge feeds the risk assessment, the evaluation and the mitigation work.
What clause 7.5 asks
The step ends with a clear picture of how far the data speaks for the people it will affect. That picture feeds the risk work, the evaluation and the search for treatments. The step does not declare the data adequate. It makes the limits known, so the later decisions can be taken with those limits in view.
Why it matters
The outcome is knowledge, not a pass. A data set can be poorly representative and still be used, provided the limitation is known and carried into the risk assessment and the evaluation. That is why the clause links forward to clauses 8 and 9. A team that treats the data work as a gate will either stop the project or hide the gap. A team that treats it as a reading will carry the gap into the decisions that follow.
What good looks like
Write a short representation statement at the end of the data step: what the data covers, what it misses and what that means for the claims the system can make. Give it to the risk lead and the evaluation lead. Record the statement in the profile and link it to the map version. Then confirm that the risk assessment and the evaluation plan both reference it.
Evidence an assessor asks for
The assessor will ask what claims the data can support. A statement that says the data is representative, with no limits, is usually overclaiming.
- Representation statement What the data covers, what it misses and the claims it can support
- Handover The risk and evaluation leads' confirmation that they hold the statement
- Profile link The statement linked to the map version in the profile
- Limitation note The known limitations and how they will be carried into the risk decision
Where it commonly fails
- The data step is treated as a pass or fail gate
- The limitations are known but never reach the risk assessment
- The evaluation plan assumes a representativeness the data does not have
What to do before publication
Write the representation statement before the risk assessment starts. It is an input, not a conclusion.
Read across
- 7.3 Outputs
- 7.4.2.3 Data map
- 8.2 Inputs
- 9.2.2 Evaluation of design and outputs: inputs
- 9.2.5 Evaluation of design and outputs: outcomes