Can the plural of "anecdote" be "data"?

I've been known to say that, when we don't have believed, meaningful data, we argue by anecdote and analogy, and, since we all have at least one of each for our point of view, we get no where.  But maybe I've underestimated the power of anecdotes, at least if viewed as source material for understanding culture.  "How to Use Stories to Size Up a Situation" is a white paper by Shawn Callahan that describes the use of "anecdote circles" as a narrative technique in lieu of surveys and interviews -- techniques he finds lacking in the ability to find out what is really going on in an organization.  He writes,

We are continually surprised with what we discover.  In every case, we enter the 'discovery phase' without any particular hypothesis -- in an attempt to dispel our preconceived ideas of what is happening.  We then collect anecdotes around broad themes of interest.  Invariably, new insights appear.

The "anecdote circle" is ten or fewer peers in an organization.  Get them started telling stories with a question like, "When have you been most frustrated or elated..." and complete with the broad area of interest.  In a school system, it might be "...as a teacher in this system?".  Record the results.  Steer away from opinions and toward stories by saying something like, "That's your opinion.  Can you give an example?"  Repeat this with a number of groups, then analyze the results to understand what's really going on in an organization.

For all the "We need to do a better job communicating" one hears out of school boards and superintendents, this isn't what they mean.  They think they just need to do a better job of either a) telling the public and parents how good the schools really are (PR), or b) telling teachers how to teach (training).  The idea that the problem may be that they aren't doing a good enough job of listening never enters their minds.  Pity.  If it did, schools might start living up to their potential to be great places for kids and adults!