MESI Wrap-up: Using Stories in Evaluation

The session "Using Stories in Evaluation" was led by Richard Krueger.

What is an evaluation story? It is a brief narrative account of an experience told for a purpose described by the storyteller.

There are many different ways you can use stories in evaluation, Richard pointed out that you can use them in a non-systematic manner (to provide entertainment, illustrate a point, etc) or in a systematic manner (use social science protocol- sampling, collection, generalizability, verification, etc).

To help you use stories in evaluation, Richard provided an example of an evaluation strategy:

1. Select the theme
2. Identify potential storytellers
3. Plan the inquiry
4. Systematically collect stories
5. Convert stories into an evaluation format (coding, etc)
6. Analyze and identify themes
7. Report results