| Session Title: Core Quantitative Issues: Presenting Quantitative Findings to Policy Makers, Stakeholders and the Public |
| Multipaper Session 849 to be held in Centennial Section B on Saturday, Nov 8, 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM |
| Sponsored by the Quantitative Methods: Theory and Design TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Stephanie M Reich, University of California Irvine, smreich@uci.edu |
| Discussant(s): |
| Dale Berger, Claremont Graduate University, dale.berger@cgu.edu |
| Abstract: The goal of evaluation research is to provide feedback to stakeholders about their program. However, translating complex quantitative analyses in a manner that is understandable and useful to laypeople is often challenging. This symposium will discuss the issue of presenting quantitative findings to a variety of non-statistical audiences. The session will start with innovative ways public health data have been presented to policy makers and state agencies to both translate findings and sway public opinion. This will be followed by a comparison on how the findings from several large, longitudinal studies of childcare have been interpreted and utilized based on the way in which they were presented. The session will conclude with suggestions, from a national health worker program, for presenting data that address 'what works for whom'. Evaluating programs is only beneficial when the outcomes can be used in ways that enable program improvement, expansion, modification, or even discontinuation. |
| Translating Evaluation Research into Policy and Practice: The Case of California's Family Planning Program |
| Claire Brindis, University of California San Francisco, claire.brindis@ucsf.edu |
| Using data to shape policy requires a portfolio of evaluation dissemination strategies and tools and the ability to communicate effectively the results of stakeholders' investments. As an external evaluator, The University of California, San Francisco has played both a program monitoring and evaluation role since the inception of the PACT Program to provide family planning and reproductive health services at no cost to California's low-income residents of reproductive age. Key in the translation of results of this program is the ability to present data in formats that respond to the needs and vital interests of the potential user of the information. For example, an 8 page brief presents comparative information on the decline in unintended pregnancies in the state by California State Senate (40 districts) and Assembly (80 districts), as well as by Federal Congressional districts. Data are presented by the specific name of the policymaker, including: numbers of clients served, the total provider reimbursement by that district, number of Family PACT providers in both the public and private sector, and estimates of PACT Program Impact, specifically, the estimated number of pregnancies averted, and the public costs averted through the prevention of unintended pregnancy. Data are presented both in numeric and graphic formats. |
| Presenting Data to Diverse Audiences: Many Evaluations With Varying Levels of Success |
| Margaret Burchinal, University of California Irvine, mburchin@uci.edu |
| Through my long career as a statistician and evaluator, 'presenting data to lay people" has ranged from being quite successful to quite unsuccessful. I have served as the statistician on a number of high-profile child-care projects that have attempted to influence policy, in part, through their presentation of data in the press. The successful projects such as the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study and the Abecedarian Project worked with media specialists to refine their message to a few, relatively straight-forward statements. These projects created clear messages that could be easily understood by a diversity of audiences. They then worked with policy-makers to translate findings into practice. Projects that I view as being unsuccessful in disseminating findings, such as the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, allowed each investigator to craft their own interpretation of the findings, and then argued in the media over whose interpretation was correct. It is unclear whether any one's interpretation of the findings influenced policy makers, although the mixed messages seemed to worry parents. This presentation will focus on these lessons learned about how to present findings successfully to less stat-savvy audiences and ways that mire meaningful interpretations and limit utilization of quantitative outcomes. |
| Changing Public Policy with Quantitative Data: Lessons from the Welcome Back Initiative |
| Zoe Clayson, Abundantia Consulting, zoeclay@abundantia.net |
| José Ramón Fernández Peña, San Francisco State University, jrfp@sfsu.edu |
| Welcome Back is an initiative to integrate internationally trained health workers into the health workforce, The program, which began 7 years ago in California, is now being replicated throughout the country with funding from private philanthropy, federal training grants, and private employers. The quantitative data generated from this Congressional Earmarked program have been particularly important with licensing boards, professional organizations, universities/hospital residency programs, and nursing organizations. The Initiative Director has used the data extensively and this early and continuous 'buy in' has been critical to being able to translate findings for broader audiences. This presentation will focus on the variables that have been collected and the results of a quantitative analyses relating to a variety of outcomes used to answer the evaluation question, for whom did the initiative work best and why. Specifically, this talk will describe innovative ways in which these quantitative data are shared to promote comprehension, utilization, and continuing program support. |