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Assessing Causality and the Counterfactual in Upstream Energy Efficiency Programs
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| Presenter(s):
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| Mary Sutter, Opinion Dynamics Corporation, msutter@opiniondynamics.com
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| Anne Dougherty, Opinion Dynamics Corporation, adougherty@opiniondynamics.com
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| Tsosie Reyhner, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, tdrb@pge.com
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| Jenn Mitchell-Jackson, Opinion Dynamics Corporation, jmj@opiniondynamics.com
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| Abstract:
Utilities garner energy resources (i.e., kWh) through programs that provide information and pay incentives to engender choices by consumers that meet program goals. Upstream programs work with manufacturers or retailers to attempt to effect change and are generally transparent to the consumer. However, for various reasons, evaluators are challenged to provide a complete and fair assessment of upstream programs, and stakeholders often have an unclear picture of the full potential effects brought about by the program's intervention.
This paper will discuss the context for this evaluation, how we collected evidence to capture changes brought about because of the program, and how we have set up the ability to assess the counterfactual. We are employing program theory to determine where best to collect data through depth interviews, on-site data collection, and a Delphi of market experts.
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Evaluation in Business and Industry -- Challenge and Opportunity
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| Presenter(s):
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| Bruce Aaron, Accenture, bruce.c.aaron@gmail.com
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| Abstract:
Program evaluation meets unique demands in business environments, requiring constant consideration of the Utility and Feasibility standards of the Joint Committee. It requires a flexible approach balancing technical rigor with the recognition that important decisions will be made in a compressed timeframe with the available information. The evaluator's role is to assess and balance these demands, and work with stakeholders to help them make the best possible judgments not only about the solutions being evaluated, but about the role and value of evaluation itself. This session will explore the unique demands of program evaluation in business, contrasted with practice in educational and other public settings, and provide a model and recommendations for meeting the needs of the business and helping the organization improve its practices. The evaluation model demonstrated has been applied successfully within a leading global services company for several years.
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Nanotechnology Side Effect on Labor Market
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| Presenter(s):
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| Fayez Shafloot, Western Michigan University, fa_shaa@hotmail.com
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| Abstract:
The prospective future of nanotechnology will have a tremendous impact on employees and labor market in that they will encounter the diminishing of some industries and the evaporating of jobs. Many causes will lead to this severe and inevitable problem such as: competition and downsizing in order to reduce cost, producing new inventions that have new functions and uses, possessing patents of new innovation. That will flip the chain and direction of exportation and importation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of evaluation of nanotechnology on the labor market and define the value and merit of its applications from two perspectives; (1) companies and (2) the end user, in order to come up with solutions that could reduce or avoid the high impact of nanotechnology on the labor market.
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