Transcript B839 14E session 5 evidence 20141112

What is evidence –
and how can I use it in my EBI?
Plenary session: “Making a difference”
residential school (B839)
November 2014
Aims of this session
•
•
•
•
What do we mean when we talk about evidence?
Why is evidence important?
What kinds of evidence might I use in my EBI?
How might I critically reflect on and evaluate the quality
and scale of the evidence I use?
• An opportunity to work with others in the resi school
beyond your own tutor group
• Have some fun (with evidence?? Yes!)
Buzz group
Talk with your neighbour, in pairs, for 2
minutes:
What is evidence in an EBI – how might we
define it?
Evidence: a definition
“the available facts, circumstances etc supporting or
otherwise a belief, proposition…. Or indicating whether or
not a thing is true or valid”
Concise Oxford Dictionary
Small group activity
10 minutes
• Why is evidence important in an EBI?
• Why is evidence important in management more
generally?
List as many reasons as your group can think of, with
illustrative examples.
The importance of evidence
• Supports and justifies your argument
• Raises questions about whether your argument is
accurate (e.g. where the evidence does not fit your
argument)
• Encourages you to improve your thinking about or use of
theory or practice
• Enables you to go beyond assertion (“this is what I
think”) into persuasion (“I can reinforce my argument
with data”)
• Demonstrates that you have engaged with course
material
Collecting evidence is not……
• Cherry-picking the “best”
evidence that fits your
ideas.
• Presenting illustrations and
examples which support
your ideas and ignoring the
counter-examples
• Being drawn to vivid cases
which support your
argument
• Thinking that one or two
examples “will do”
Collecting evidence is……
• Systematic
Give serious thought to how you are collecting evidence,
that you are drawing on the full range of possible
evidence, that you think about your role and values in
collecting and interpreting data
• Sceptical
Subject your evidence to disconfirmation not just
confirmation; be critical of your work; think about other
possible explanations of your evidence
• Ethical
Collect your data in ways which are fair to other people
and do not create harm to others.
(Robson, 2002: Real world research)
Small group activity
15 minutes
Tables 1 & 2: What does systematic evidence collection
look like in an EBI? How would you know it is systematic?
Tables 3 & 4: What does a sceptical stance to your EBI
look like? What can you do in practical ways to be
sceptical?
Tables 5 & 6: How can you behave in ethical ways in
collecting and using evidence in your EBI?
Types of evidence (1)
Primary data: data that you collect yourself (e.g. you
conduct some interviews or you design and use a
questionnaire)
Secondary data: data that has been collected by others
but which you use to analyse your improvement initiative
(e.g. you analyse sales figures, or annual appraisal
scores, company reports, government figures)
Which type of evidence are you going to use? Both? One
or the other? Why? Be clear about how it will help your
EBI? What will it add to your argument?
Types of evidence (2)
Quantitative: Numbers, or data which is expressed in
numerical form (e.g. sales figures, rating scales on a
questionnaire, counting how many interviewees mention a
particular practice)
Qualitative Data which is about meanings, interpretations
and perspectives (e.g. how people feel about working for
company X; the varied emotions people talk about in
relation to a new work practice; their questions about your
EBI)
Small group activity
15 minutes.
Discuss:
• Are you clear about whether you are using primary or
secondary data, and mainly numbers or words in your
EBI?
• On what basis can you justify your choice (what are the
advantages/disadvantages of your choice?)
• Are there any themes about the choice of types of data
on your table?
How much evidence do I need for my
EBI?
A very good question!
There is no fixed answer to this. But remember you are
not doing a PhD – you should collect enough evidence to
ensure your argument is plausible and interesting. But
your evidence is likely to be indicative rather than
definitive.
Think about what would make strong evidence and collect
as much of it as you can in the time available (but allow
time for analysing it as well).
Stay critical about your evidence
All evidence is flawed in some way or another.
• What are the weaknesses as well as the strengths of your data
collection and analysis?
• Have you surveyed enough people?
• What about the non-responders?
• Have people in interviews told you what they think you want to
hear?
• Has fear in the workplace affected how honest people are
prepared to be?
• What about the evidence which did NOT fit your improvement
initiative?
Use the discussion part of your EMA to write up some reflections on
the quality and scope of your evidence. Good researchers are
critical of their own work.
Evidence and reflection
Your EMA asks you to critically reflect on your EBI. So
use ideas, reflection, speculation, and so on to think about
your EBI.
But be careful to be clear and explicit about where you
have evidence to support your argument and where you
are using reflection to expand on or critique your initiative.
Both are important – but they are different types of
understanding of your EBI.
Aims of this session
•
•
•
•
What do we mean when we talk about evidence?
Why is evidence important?
What kinds of evidence might I use in my EBI?
How might I critically reflect on and evaluate the quality
and scale of the evidence I use?
• An opportunity to work with others in the resi school
beyond your own tutor group
• Have some fun (with evidence?? Yes!)
Buzz group
Talk with a neighbour for 1 minute each.
What has been most valuable for you in this session?
What are you going to do as an action for your EBI
following this session.
Over to you……
Hope the aims have been fulfilled for this session.
What else do you need/want to know in order to design
and collect evidence for your EBI?
Remember to use your research methods textbook to help
you with particular data collection techniques.
GOOD LUCK!!