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 A frequent theme here on Genuine Evaluation is appropriate reporting. Not just getting the facts right, but reporting them in a non-misleading way. Along those lines, check out this classic, in which all the information is technically correct, but … Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide (author unknown) Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of Read the whole post –> The Friday Funny: Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide!  Results from a self-selected samlple reported as if it really represents national sentiment. Sloppy reporting or a deliberate campaign against a new leader in Read the whole post –> The Nation says ‘No’ – misrepresentation of a volunteer sample New UK Government commits to “ripping off the cloak of secrecy”. How long will this thirst for transparency last? Read the whole post –> “Ripping off the cloak of secrecy” – British PM pledge Another example of how misreporting of findings can undermine effective public response to identified hazards. Read the whole post –> Facebook ’spreads syphilis’ – or does it?  Languaging (finding ways for difficult or complex ideas to make sense in different contexts) is a very important issue for getting people to buy into (and take action based on) evaluation findings, particularly when some aspect of a program is not doing well. Positive languaging can be highly effective for getting stakeholders to buy into not-so-positive findings. However, we do need to be wary of defaulting to positive, ‘comfort zone’ language all the Read the whole post –> Languaging in evaluation – raising fewer hackles vs. clarity of message Learning from failure has received very little attention in evaluation, but the management literature has been discussing it since the 1990s. The real challenge is building an organizational culture where not only is experimentation encouraged, but it is not necessarily a career-limiting move to produce failures, mistakes, and negative results. Organizational leaders have a huge part to play in setting the tone and showing through their actions that learning from failure is important. And for government agencies in particular, the media has an important part to play in supporting rather than undermining genuine evaluation. Read the whole post –> ‘Fast failure’ and Work-Out: Organizational cultures that support learning from failure A recent expose of dodgy statistics in the UK about pests on public transport shows just how hard it can be to, firstly, get to the truth about unreliable or fabricated statistics that are uncritically reported, and, secondly, how hard it can be to get corrections Read the whole post –> 500 cockroaches on a bus – or are there? A salutary reminder that just because things are measured precisely (such as money) doesn’t mean that the measurements are valid or useful. As reported by Louise Story, Landon Thomas Jr and Nelson D. Schwartz, in the New York Times on 13 Feb 2010 : As in the American subprime crisis and the implosion of the American Read the whole post –> What you measure and how you measure it – the Greek financial example The second-funniest joke in the world, according to Richard Wiseman’s LaughLab, was the joke submitted by Geoff Anandappa of Blackpool, which is clearly about the importance of focusing key messages in evaluation summaries. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were going camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night Holmes woke Watson up and said: “Watson, look up at the stars, and tell me what you see.” Read the whole post –> Friday funny – drawing conclusions |
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