The Seductive Danger of Stories: How narratives can mislead evaluators and evaluation managers
The over-simplified evaluation story: Resisting the urge to erase contradiction and uncertainty in the presentation of evaluation findings and conclusions
Vice President, Evaluation, Research, and Analytics Social Impact Arlington, Virginia, United States
A powerful evaluation story can inspire change. But if the evaluation story is oversimplified, the change that occurs might lead to erroneous policy and programmatic decision-making. This presentation will address the dangers of oversimplifying evaluation evidence in the presentation of evaluation findings and conclusions. The panelist will discuss the importance of incorporating contradictions and uncertainty even when it muddies the main narrative of the evaluation.
