Locating Data Use in the Microprocesses of District-Level Deliberations: A Methodological Approach

• In Event: 58.062 - Data-Driven Decision-Making Instrumentation and Methodology

Abstract

While there is an abundance of data-use literature in the education-policy landscape, research typically draws on interview and survey methods. Studies rarely rely on the observational and longitudinal data that are required to investigate the role that data play in deliberations over time (Little, 2012). As a result, we know little about how data enter ongoing decision-making conversations, or how they may assist in framing problems and developing potential solutions. In this article, we describe how we used frame theory to understand the role of data in deliberations over time. We then outline the methodological approach developed for investigating data use in naturally-occurring longitudinal decision making, and finally explain how we analyze the contexts in which data were invoked.

Authors

• Alice Huguet, Northwestern University

• Annie Allen, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Caitlin Farrell, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Cynthia E. Coburn

• Debbie Kim, Northwestern University

• William R. Penuel, University of Colorado - Boulder