Using Data to Persuade:
State Your Case & Prove It
Denise Troll Covey
Principal Librarian for Special Projects
Carnegie Mellon
LAMA Preconference:
Got Data, Now What?
June 2004 – Orlando, FL
ASSESSMENT
What Do They Want?
Users want
Easy, speedy, convenient access to quality resources
Affective, effective service
Comfortable, aesthetic space
Administrators want
Satisfied users who are lifelong learners
Peer comparisons that look good
Cost-effective management
Fund raising
What is a “Culture of Assessment”?
Beliefs, behaviors, & assumptions that drive
an ongoing cycle of data gathering, analysis,
interpretation, organization, presentation, & use
Demonstrate contribution & accountability
Identify problems that impair or impede contribution
Monitor & facilitate continuous improvement
Provide evidence of need
Assessment Scene Investigation (ASI)
Academic“orphaned
libraries (2002)
CRIME:
data & knowledge”
Denise
Troll Covey:
Usagecreated,
& Usability
Negligence:
Intentionally
but ofAssessment:
little or no
Library Practices & Concerns (CLIR report 105)
use to library & its stakeholders because of ineffective
Public
libraries
(2002)
processes
that result
in delayed analysis & presentation
Larry
White:
Does Counting
Count:raise costs;
Harm:Nash
Waste
resources;
reduce benefits;
An
of the
Use and Impact
veilEvaluation
challenges;Study
obstruct
opportunities;
hurt of
morale
Performance Measurement in Florida Public Libraries
What Are We Doing?
Allowing a gap between our current culture
& our objectives; the current culture is winning
CURRENT
Beliefs
Behaviors
Assumptions
Transition
DESIRED
Beliefs
Behaviors
Assumptions
Conner, D.R. Managing at the Speed of Change. NY: Villard, 1992.
Muddling through: using short term solutions
to solve long term problems
Project for the Future of Higher Education
What do we need to do?
Need to transform higher education
Create a vision focused on student learning, quality
of faculty work life, & reduced cost per student
Gather & USE data to create deep change
Implement the vision via creativity & collaboration
Improve effectiveness, efficiency, & value
Promote operational culture of evidence
EDUCAUSE National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII)
Assumptions
No assessment, no transformation
Assessment
No
without
resistance
is transformation
like teaching pigs
to dance.
The results aren’t pretty
& it just irritates the pigs.
No pain, no gain
Assessment Requires Persuasion
Problem or opportunity exists
Need to conduct research
What kind of study
Who should be involved
How to interpret the data
What to recommend based on the data
Getting support for your recommendations
Persuasion is an Art
Using discourse to effect thought & action
Convince – agree that your argument is reasonable
Persuade – motivate action based on conviction
Elements of the rhetorical situation
Problem or opportunity that invites change
Audience capable of mediating the change
Constraints that can be manipulated to effect change
How You Begin . . .
Problem or opportunity is WHY you gather data
Controls audience to be addressed
Controls change to be effected
Audience is WHOM you gather data for
Those with power to mediate
the change you want
Problem + Audience = Purpose
What research questions must be answered to
Solve problem or take advantage of opportunity?
Focus, facilitate or demonstrate achievement?
Decide WHAT data you need to gather
to answer THESE questions
for THIS audience
given your CONSTRAINTS
Gather WHAT Data?
Good enough data for your purpose
Inputs – potential to provide service
Efficiency
Outputs – actual service provided
Effectiveness
Outcomes – what good you do
Satisfaction
Performance – how well you do
Quality
Usability
http://www.csus.edu/portfolio/
Examine Your Constraints
Time, money, people, & skills
Constrain research & sampling methods
Commitment to use the results
Incentive, motivation, & credibility
Audience (see handout)
What’s their culture?
What do they know or think they know that’s relevant?
What do they need to know or care about?
What triggers their sense of urgency?
Other Constraints
Rhetoric – discourse designed to engage
& motivate the audience to mediate change
Rhetor – who creates & delivers the discourse
Time – to state your case & prove it
– The higher up the food chain you go,
the less time you seem to have
with your audience
Got Data, Now What?
Analyze – compile & examine for tendencies
Interpret – decide what the data mean
Tentatively plan how to use the data & knowledge
Organize & present the data & knowledge
to tell a story that will engage & motivate
your audience to confirm the plan
& mediate the change you want
Tell the Right Story to the Right People
Data are part of the story
The rest is rhetorical argument
Convey the urgency of the situation
Start with premises accepted by the audience
Use data, knowledge, & strategy to build your case
Persuade the audience to accept your conclusions
Strength of case is determined by audience
Tell the Right Story the Right Way
Beginning – State your case in their terms
Middle – Prove it in a crescendo of evidence-based
arguments (plot) that convey urgency, address objections,
& build a case that fits or alters their worldview
End – state proposed plan & your “ask”
– By the time you reach your “ask,”
the audience must be persuaded
Leverage Existing Data & Knowledge
Develop & strengthen your story
using all available evidence
Previous internal assessments & visitor reports
Standards, guidelines, & best practices
Comparative data with peers
Environmental scan
Relevant research
Fundamental Strategies
Association – connect your data & knowledge
with what your audience knows & cares about
To be persuasive, your data & claims must be
consonant with your audience’s knowledge at the time
Dissociation – separate your data & knowledge
from what they mistakenly believe or assume
Predict & address resistance & objections
EXAMPLE
Problem requiring discourse to change:
Undergraduate students are using
inappropriate resources for their coursework
Audiences able to mediate change
Faculty
Reference librarians
Provost
University Advancement
Undergraduates
Want easy, speedy, convenient access
Remote access to full text resources
More & easier to use online resources
More books
Library web site is problematic
Physical library & ILL are inconvenient
43% never use reference service
14% never heard of reference service
Undergraduate Behaviors & Beliefs
Value efficiency more than effectiveness
96% believe info on the surface web is adequate
80% prefer remote access to information
72% begin with a search engine
48% use online resources all or most of the time
46% believe other web sites are better than library
Spend 33% of their study time in a library
Research by Outsell, OCLC,
Pew Foundation, & the EDNER Project (UK)
Digital Reference
“Ask”:
Automated Resource Finder
Email & chat reference
Web based tool
to easily locate
appropriate online
library resources
Initial funding
from private donor
“Ask”: Million Book Project
Digitize & provide open
access to a million books
on the surface web
Initial funding from NSF
& the governments of India & China
Thank you!
An ounce of pretension
is worth a pound of manure.
B. Holton. Leadership Lessons of Robert E. Lee.
NY: Gramercy Books, 1995.
Denise Troll Covey
troll@andrew.cmu.edu