>> Collaborative
partnerships are critical
to gathering experiential
evidence.
Input from multiple perspectives
from as many key stakeholders
as possible provides
for stronger evidence
which would then be used
in making a decision.
These key stakeholders
include: those involved
in the program operations such
as sponsors, coalition partners,
administrators and staff;
those served or affected
by the program including
clients, family, members,
neighborhood organizations
and elected officials;
non-traditional partners whose
areas of experience intersect
with violence prevention such
as people who employ youth,
members of the media,
marketing experts,
others who have been involved
in implementation
elsewhere, and more.
Experiential evidence is present
at both the individual
and the group level.
Because contributors to the
decision making process may come
and go, it is important to track
how these changes impact the
experiential evidence.
>> We do try to encourage
people to talk
to multiple players you
know and at multiple levels
in a community whether
they run a bank
or the financial institution
or the religious
faith-based institution
or they're just somebody you
know that is in the community
and has three children.
But all those people,
like you said,
have different perspectives
and you probably need
to hear a little
taste of all of them
to really make some
complete decisions.
>> In order to be considered
evidence for decision-making,
information from discussions
and meetings should be gathered
and documented in a
systematic manner.
Ways to collect experiential
evidence include:
asking reflective questions,
engaging in communities
of practice, conducting expert
panels, participating in team,
decision making, or
other consensus process.
Collecting this type
of information can
often be enhanced by:
including multiple stakeholders
with a variety of experiences
to help filter out biases,
eliciting information
by asking concrete
questions, conducting face
to face discussions, adhering
to an appropriate
timeline for questions.