Elevate the Debate: A Multilayered Approach to Communicating Your Research

ISBN-13: 9781119620013 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 224 str.

Jonathan Schwabish

Recenzje

"The Urban Institute team has written a concise, practical, must-read primer for all researchers and experts who seek to improve public policy."--Anthony Williams, CEO of the Federal City Council and former mayor of Washington DC"The Urban Institute was a 20th-century leader in data-rich, timely analysis. It has now assumed the leadership mantle for 21st century techniques to communicate the results of those efforts."--Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office"This terrific book that takes you through the entire process of communicating data, research, and analysis to different audiences. The Urban team shows you everything you need to know about how to reach a wider audience."--Susan Dynarski, Professor at the University of Michigan"Facts still matter. Now more than ever, we need experts--analysts, researchers and scholars--to bring evidence to bear in our critical public policy decisions. This book is an outstanding guide to the best, most effective practices to make that happen in ways that matter and will have impact on improving outcomes across society and the economy."--Don Baer, former Communications Director at the White House"Schwabish and team are master communicators! And Elevate the Debate masterfully explains how to bring your scholarship and data-driven research out of the library, off the page, and into the eyes and minds of those who can put it to good use."--David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"Being an expert is both a privilege and a responsibility. So often researchers struggle to clearly frame their work in a way a larger audience can appreciate. Elevate the Debate lays out easy-to-follow steps that will help the wonkiest of wonks break down their research and clearly explain why their work matters. If you wish more people could appreciate why your work is important, check this book out."--Dan Gorenstein, host and Executive Producer of Tradeoffs: A Health Policy Podcast"Elevate the Debate is the scholar's handbook to bridging the divide with policymakers and making a real impact with one's research. The research report is yesterday's tool for dissemination; the infographic is today's. The Urban Institute team clearly and artfully guides academics in identifying their audiences and visualizing results in new, more media-friendly ways that hold great promise for improving evidence-based policy and practice."--Carolyn Heinrich, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of PublicPolicy, Education and Economics, Vanderbilt University"Data without communication is just data. This essential guide shows you how to transform those numbers into something real and vital that can have true impact. If you want to change the world with data, this guide is a great place to start."--Simon Rogers, Google"In an age of increasing disinformation and noise, it's crucial that scientists, researchers, and educators of all types get their message out with simplicity and clarity. Evidence-based thinking and communicating has never been more important than it is today. This may be the most important book you read this year!"--Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen and Professor of Management at Kansai Gaidai University"At a time when the world struggles to separate fact from fiction in our media and information, there are few more important endeavors than guiding researchers and scholars in disseminating their work. This exceptional volume from the Urban Institute is an essential and timely resource for doing just that. Here's hoping it is widely read and absorbed!"--Jimmy Soni, award-winning author of A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age"This book is the essential how-to guide for researchers and analysts who intend to be relevant. Getting your message into the right hands doesn't happen by accident!"--Tom Terry, CEO of the Terry Group"Elevate the Debate is a fabulous new book that offers to teach researchers how to communicate our work to get attention from multiple audiences. This volume takes the importance of a good presentation as a start and goes on to help researchers and analysts to communicate data, research, and analysis to different audiences. It is accessible, clearly written, and a very important tool to increase the use of our work to improve policy formation. I hope it is widely read and followed."--Barbara L. Wolfe, Richard A. Easterlin Professor of Economics, Population Health Sciences, and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Spis treści

Acknowledgments ixPreface xiChapter 1 Why Research Needs a Big Audience 1Now more than ever, experts need to go further to bring their evidence-based insights to decisionmakers and influencers.Case Study: Creating a range of products to reach different audiencesChapter 2 Developing an Audience Outreach Strategy 15One audience may need a nuanced, thorough analysis of the data and methods; another may need the punchline; and another the most important, bottom-line numbers or facts.Case Study: Targeting your outreach efforts to different audiencesChapter 3 An Introduction to Visualizing Your Research 37Be purposeful about what you include in your graphs and charts so they best serve the needs of your reader and the message you want to convey.Case Study: Readers devour an easily digestible data visualizationChapter 4 Better Presentations: More Effective Speaking 67A presentation is a fundamentally different form of communication than a written report.Case Study: Using the power of storytelling to communicate your messageChapter 5 How to Blog about Your Findings 101By distilling and repackaging your message, you can make that work more appealing to and digestible for broader audiences.Case Study: Writing timely and accessible blog postsChapter 6 Working with the Media to Increase Your Impact 121Make an interview more than a one-time event; use it to cultivate a relationship with the media so you can be a resource in the future.Case Study: Quick responses to policy proposals pay off for elite media cultivationChapter 7 Social Media Can Build Audiences That Matter 147Social media platforms can give you the opportunity to connect and converse with new and influential audiences around your research in ways that are both intimate and public.Case Study: Leveraging Twitter to benefit your researchChapter 8 Putting It All Together to Make a Difference 175If you don't have a plan or a tangible impact in mind, then you risk your work going unnoticed by the people best positioned to act on it.Case Study: Developing structures and processes for a robust communications teamBibliography 195About the Contributors 203Index 207

O autorze

Jonathan Schwabish is a senior fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute. He also specializes in data visualization and presentation design as a member of the communications team. His research agenda includes earnings and income inequality, immigration, disability insurance, retirement security, data measurement, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Schwabish is considered a leader in the data visualization field and is a leading voice for clarity and accessibility in research. He has written on various aspects of how to best visualize data, including technical aspects of creation, design best practices, and how to communicate social science research in more accessible ways. He was named a "visualization thought leader" by AllAnalytics in 2013 and speaks frequently on data visualization, open data, and data use in organizations. Schwabish teaches data visualization and presentation skills at Georgetown University, American University, and the Maryland Institute College of Art. He is also founder of PolicyViz, a small consulting firm that helps clients improve how they work with and communicate data and analysis. He also hosts the PolicyViz Podcast, which focuses on data, open data, and data visualization.