Evaluation is a systematic process to determine merit, worth, value or significance… But then what? Let’s say you followed a systematic process and came to some conclusions about the value of a program. Your evidence shows that this particular program *doesn’t work so well. What comes next? It’s pretty unlikely that your work is completed […]
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Attending a conference? Do this.
I’m writing this at the start of the American Evaluation Association’s national conference. Unfortunately it’s another year that I won’t be attending. But I want to pass some advice to all of you who attend conferences like this one with hopes of building both your skills and your professional reputation. It’s time to think beyond […]
Formstorming Charts, Graphs, and Illustrations
You want to know the secret to improving the quality of your charts, graphs, and illustrations? It’s simple. Create more than one chart, graph, or illustration. Then pick the best one. Or, in other words, formstorm it. Stop taking the easy way out. The following comes from a presentation given by John Cleese on Creativity […]
Is your report too wordy? Don’t do this.
Have you been told your report is too wordy? Or maybe you received input that your report was “too long” or “not reader friendly.” And then perhaps you were given the advice, “make it shorter.” STOP! Don’t follow that advice. In this post I’ll tell you why making your report shorter is often bad advice, […]
Creating Fuzzy Icon Arrays
One of the cool things about teaching data design is that I get to personally learn from the people who take my workshops. Today’s concept comes from Celestyna Galicki. This is the second time I’ve featured one of Celestyna’s creations (see her post on Shadow Logic Models). If you have ever taken one of my […]
How to Use Icons in Reports
Icons can be a really easy and effective way to illustrate reports and visualize qualitative data. In this post I’ll share some examples, give you some icon use tips, and talk about some specific ways you can develop and use your own icons using Canva. In a previous blog post I talked about qualitative data […]