Evidence base around "data informed" - not urgent
McKieran, Laura C
Hi NNIP News folks –
I’m hoping for input on peer-reviewed evidence/research related to people using data – primarily but not only local data – to inform decisions and actions, and then what happens next, which we all hope is a better outcome of some sort.
I’m especially interested in:
- quantitative and mixed method analyses, as we’re pretty solid on qual already,
- how “data use” is defined and measured, and
- how “better” or “worse” gets defined/operationalized and measured in terms of decisions and actions, particularly policy – not my area.
Not sure whether images will come through here, but I’m pasting in our old logic model, circling the magic assumptions and links I want to know a lot more about than I do now. It desperately needs revision but it’ll still show where my brain’s going with this. (You can also see that I’m not so interested in the link between the activities/outputs and the very short-term outcomes.)
So if you know of good research and scientific-y literature – not just individual case studies – on whether and how “data informed” is better/different by X measure than “not data informed”, I’d be grateful if you could point me to it. I have to believe there’s a whole big body of theory and evidence out there somewhere, but I don’t know what the keywords are. :)
Thanks so much in advance –
Laura
Laura McKieran, DrPH
Executive Director | Community Information Now
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Jessica Lotz
Hi Laura –
This might still be more qualitative than what you’re looking for, but in case it sparks some ideas, I really like Harvard’s Strategic Data Use rubric: https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/sdp/files/sdp-rubric_1.pdf
This was created with school districts in mind, but you could potentially quantify how many of your civic user groups are enacting similar the strong to exemplary practices/have associated outputs you can track or have them rate themselves over time on these.
_________________________________
Jessica Lotz
Executive Director | Innovate Memphis
516 Tennessee St., Suite 422
Memphis, TN 38103
(she/her)
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Gradeck, Robert M
That rubric reminded me of this data maturity framework/model from the UK. We came across other stuff like this, but this one stuck in my brain as being a decent framework.
https://www.dataorchard.org.uk/resources/data-maturity-framework
I am afraid to take their assessment because I worry others will know that I am immature.
Yesterday, I sent Laura a link to the Data Foundation, which focuses on federal level evidence-based policy stuff. https://www.datafoundation.org/ and an org that writes useful reports and does good events.
I don’t know if any of this would help Laura.
Tomorrow is Friday,
Bob Gradeck
Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center
University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research
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Sarah Eisele-Dyrli
I did not start out planning to write a tome, but your questions are really interesting, Laura.
I also don’t have anything peer-reviewed, but looking at your logic model (which I might think of as a Theory of Change, as individual projects/programs may have different pathways to change), I wonder if the “magic assumptions” are relationships. Outcome Mapping could be a helpful tool to look at to consider this possibility. We know how important individual relationships are, and when one person leaves (a key staff member or a leader who champions the work), we have to start all over. Outcome mapping focuses on relationships, and this piece gives some ideas (and caveats) for including outcome mapping in theories of change. (Skip to “What does an OM theory of change look like?”)
On the logic model itself, there are different actors in relation to the data-informed decisions. There are grassroots groups, nonprofits (which can be led & staffed by the community), elected leaders, the business community (etc.). The outcomes for each would be different, and the change path for each would be different. For the community (and here I’m thinking grassroots groups, residents, etc.) I think there’s an outcome between your two Intermediate outcomes –
- “The community understands…”
- I’d add – “The community organizes and advocates…”
- “Community decisions and actions are informed by data….”
On this same vein, my big question would be – for grassroots groups & residents, is improved decision-making the end goal, or is community-informed decision-making (with the aid of data) the end goal? Nobody bases decisions solely on data because there are contexts that the data can’t quite capture, and moral trade-offs that data can’t make. None of us are going to argue with a parent that the data shows that children need access to more nutritious food when they are worried about their child being caught in the path of a bullet (which the data also shows, but may not be as “big” in the data). Is it rather that we provide data that the community needs in order to advocate what is most important to them, even if it’s not “most important” in the data? Maybe this idea of “improved decision-making” with data isn’t what we really are after in the community context. They know a LOT that the people who decide what data should be captured just doesn’t capture.
At something like the municipal level, is it possible we would want to look at “data culture” (which might be easier to measure) instead of improved decision-making? Someone shared this case study with me today about the purposeful creation of a “culture of curiosity” and increasing data-informed decision-making in Sommerville, MA.
I’m not sure I really answered any of your questions, Laura, but hopefully some of these ideas we’re adding help your thought-process!
Take care,
Sarah
From:
urban-n...@googlegroups.com <urban-n...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Gradeck, Robert M <rm...@pitt.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 5:02 PM
To: McKieran, Laura C <Laura.C....@uth.tmc.edu>, 'urban-n...@googlegroups.com' <urban-n...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Urban-NNIPNews] RE: Evidence base around "data informed" - not urgent
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