EvaluLand

_Note: Sorry for the poor audio quality on my end. Recording is hard... _ Nina and I discuss her incredible journey through evaluation from research analyst to independent consultant to founder and principal of her own evaluation consulting firm, Intention 2 Impact . We discuss starting up her business and how that's been going. Along the way, we also discuss her evaluation background, including h...

I'm interviewed by James Pann, PhD about my latest research on evaluation study in the American Journal of Evaluation. We discuss the difference between research and evaluation, the pros and cons of professionalization, the definition of evaluation, and other evaluation related topics. Link to the article in AJE Link to the YouTube video of the interview If you've got ideas for the podcast, or wou...

After chatting with folks from EvalYouth about the Global Mentoring Program, they suggested a series of podcast episodes on what evaluation looks like around the world. This episode is one in which I chat with evaluators from the Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Caucasus (ECA) about what evaluation looks like in their region. I chat with Tamara Kabysh-Rybalka and Dana Reva, both of whom are...

After chatting with folks from EvalYouth about the Global Mentoring Program, they suggested a series of podcast episodes on what evaluation looks like around the world. This episode is one in which I chat with evaluators from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) about what evaluation looks like in their region. I chat with Hayat Askar and Sana Ben Salem about their experiences evaluating in the...

After chatting with folks from EvalYouth about the Global Mentoring Program, they suggested a series of podcast episodes on what evaluation looks like around the world. This episode is one in which I chat with evaluators from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) about what evaluation looks like in their region. I chat with Claudia Olavarría and Gerardo Sánchez-Romero about evaluation in the LAC r...

After chatting with folks from EvalYouth about the Global Mentoring Program, they suggested a series of podcast episodes on what evaluation looks like around the world. This episode is one in which I chat with evaluators from Europe about what evaluation looks like in their region. I chat with Tom Ling and Oto Potluka about European evaluation. They are both board members of the European Evaluatio...

We’re getting meta today… looking at the influence of a major influencer in evaluation: Carol Weiss! I chat with Gregory Greenman II about his dissertation examining citation metrics of her work across disciplines. About Gregory: Gregory spends a lot of his time thinking about the nature of evidence and its role in policy decisions. He believes that applying sound evaluative thinking and appropria...

I chat with Helen Salmon from SAGE Publishing about book publishing! We go over how to generate ideas for books, what the book publishing process looks like, and about some of the most recent evaluation books from SAGE! Sage has been a friendly publisher for evaluation books for decades. As Patton stated in the third edition of Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (2002): "[Sara Miller McCu...

In this week's episode, I chat with Sawsan Al-Zatari, Zach Tilton, and Teddy Theoharis about the EvalYouth Global Mentoring Program (EY-GMP). Links: EvalYouth YEEs in VOPEs Mentoring program E-Learning Youth participatory evaluation EY-GMP evaluations: 2017-18 Pilot Phase 2018-19 2020 in-progress How to get involved: Become a volunteer for EvalYouth Join a Task Force Follow on social media: Twitte...

This week I chat with Tiffany Smith and Libby Smith about our experiences teaching a course on interpersonal effectiveness in the MS in Applied Psychology program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. We also discuss why teaching interpersonal skills is important and why we believe these skills can and should be explicitly taught. Some background on the course The course is a 3-credit, 8-week cour...

This week I chat with Dr. Aisha Rios to both get to know her a little better and to talk about social justice in evaluation. Topics & Resources Mentioned: Getting to know Dr. Rios and Coactive Change a little better What is social justice in evaluation? Emergent strategy as guiding Dr. Rios in framing social justice evaluation as about imagining different futures Abolition literature as anothe...

I've received multiple questions about my podcasting setup and process. Rather than answer the questions individually, I thought I would podcast about it! I discuss why I got into podcasting, my recording technology and room setup, the audio processing my husband (aka audio engineer) does, podcast hosting, the general timeline for me to create an episode, and some extra few questions. Technology O...

This episode I chat with Ann Webb Price and Susan Wolfe about coalition evaluation, partnering together in evaluation, the independent consulting TIG of AEA, and so much more! Topics & Resources Mentioned: How Ann and Susan started working together What is coalition evaluation? How coalition evaluation uses a systems approach Advice for doing coalition evaluation, including not just "but why?"...

In this episode, I chat with Aasha Joshi and Hannah Lantos about their recent chapter "Demystifying data: Strategies and tools for making data more meaningful in OST programs" in the recently released book Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time , edited by Christina Russell and Corey Newhouse. The book will be particularly useful to leadership-level staff in out-of-school time organ...

Thank you to everyone who participated in the call-in to share their own reflections about the 2020 AEA virtual experience ! In this episode, I start with thanking the conference organizers, sharing my own reflections, and then pass it off to the eight people who called in to share their own reflections: Rachael Lawrence ( @R8chLawrence ) Rakesh Mohan ( @RakeshMohanEval ) Ann Price ( @annwprice )...

Thank you to everyone who participated in the call-in to share their own reflections about the 2020 AEA virtual experience ! After the conference, please sure your own thoughts and reflections by calling in . It's very similar to leaving a voicemail! In this episode, I start with my own reflection about the conference, how I'm going to make the most of the conference, and what I am personally exci...

This week, Chari Smith joins me to talk about nonprofit evaluation, how to build a culture of evaluation, the relationship between music and evaluation, and the AEA conference. Chari Smith wrote a book! Nonprofit Program Evaluation Made Simple: Get your Data. Show your Impact. Improve your Programs . Sign up for the mailing list to learn more about the book, including the launch date. Resources &a...

This week I am joined by David Keyes. We talked about R, why evaluators should learn R, tips for teaching courses, and more! Interested in getting started with R? Check out David's free course ! Interested in learning how to do inferential statistics in R? Check our our new course ! Resources: Blog posts Dana's R journey What is a tidyverse-centric approach? How to make beautiful tables in R How t...

ThisThis week I am joined by Ann K. Emery about her journeys in evaluation and entrepreneurship. Ann K. Emery is an internationally-acclaimed speaker who equips organizations to get their data out of dusty spreadsheets and into real-world conversations. She now runs Depict Data Studio . If you’d rather watch this talk, you can do so on YouTube here . Topics & Resources Mentioned: #EvalTwitter...

This week, we’re chatting with AnnJanette, or Anjie, Rosga about objectivity, trust and numbers, truth and power, and more. AnnJanette (Anjie) Rosga, PhD , co-directs the small, Berkeley-based consulting firm Informing Change which works to support strategic learning initiatives in the social sector. Most of Anjie’s projects involve facilitating strategy development, promoting equity and participa...

This week I discuss some of the latest Research on Evaluation (RoE) articles that have come out in 2020. Articles Mentioned: At the beginning I mention the RoE TIG ’s definition of RoE, which is summarized here . Evaluation Journal of Australasia – Special Issue on Values in Evaluation Vol 19, Issue 4 : Guest Editors: Keryn Hassall, Kelly Hannum, Amy Gullickson and Mathea Roorda Vol 20, Issue 2 :...

“If you are someone who is interested in bringing change, or making the world a better place, or if you would like the results of your work to get used, evaluation is something that you might be interested in.” This episode is a bit different. I asked three of my students to reflect on their experiences in the MS in Applied Psychology program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, as well as their expe...

This week I am joined by Dr. Ayesha Boyce, assistant professor of educational research methodology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, to discuss teaching evaluation and supporting students and colleagues of color. Topics Covered: Reflections on five years of teaching evaluation The -ologies: ontology, epistemology, and axiology beyond just methodology Favorite evaluation activity (...

This week I am joined by Dr. Jennifer Ann Morrow, the program coordinator of the Evaluation Statistics and Measurement doctoral program (soon to be named "Evaluation Statistics and Methodology) at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. We talked about teaching evaluation and data cleaning in evaluation. Topics Covered: Jennifer’s background, philosophy, and experience in teaching evaluation (01:58...

This week I am joined by Zach Tilton, a Doctoral Research Associate at the Interdisciplinary PhD in Evaluation Program at Western Michigan University. We discussed research on evaluation and meta-evaluation. Topics Covered: How Zach got into evaluation and at Western Michigan University (01:12) What peacebuilding evaluation is (03:52) Evaluation specialists vs generalists (05:45) Research on evalu...