Information for decision: What's the use?

Abstract

information use depends on how use is defined and on a variety of organizational, personal, and presentational factors. Evaluation researchers have faced and addressed these issues before.Institutional researchers are not alone in lamenting the indifference with which decision makers commonly receive the fruits of their labors. As action researchers they share these concerns with a much wider community, many members of which have paid considerable attention to seeking out the reasons for this phenomenon. The most important investigations have probably been those in the field of social program evaluation and in particular in the literature on the utilization of evaluation results. What can we learn from these investigations that we can use to inform the practice of institutional research? With a few caveats, the answer is a great deal, first in broadening our conceptions of the ways in which information is actually used by administrators, then in directing our attention to key factors that affect how and whether information is used. This chapter reviews these two topics, noting some prior treatments of the utilization of institutional research and grounding these discussion in the experience of the wider evaluation tradition. Institutional Research as Program Evaluation: Parallels and Differences Like institutional research, program evaluation as a profession can be traced to the early sixties. Large-scale federal programming and the Nrw I ) i i r c t l i m a h t iiisiitutional R~r a r i h, no. 64 Sari Fratirianr Jia,ry-Rass, Wiiiiri 1989. 7 P 'I Pwrll ( c d ) . t;nhoncing Injonnnlaun UXP in Ilrcaston Making.

Informational cultures: Facing challenges of institutional research within cross-continental settings

“…The policy literature has documented political use as one of the major applications of information (Ewell, 1989;Kalsbeek, 1991;Leviton and Hughes, 1981;Weiss, 1977). The process of requiring basic institutional infor-mation on forms designed by the home campus expresses the ritualistic and political nature of information use.…”

“…Making an option "actionable" refers to the process of translating visions into measurable alternative courses of action. Providing a range of options can help decision makers gain closure in a policy area (Ewell, 1989).…”

Performance indicators and rational management tools: A compatative assessment of projects in North America and Europe

“…The policy analysis literature has documented political use as one of the major applications of information (Ewell, 1987b;Kalsbeek, 1991;Leviton and Hughes, 1981;Nedwek and Neal, 1992;Weiss, 1977). Performance indicator systems can serve the political agenda of decision makers who are concerned that they are "doing something" about postsecondary education.…”

“…Two of the more powerful forces are the relative scarcity of resources and the "political culture" of the state and its resultant governance pattern (Ewell, 1987b;Boyer, 1990). The degree of governmental control over performance indicator systems and other assessment schemes is colored by policymakers' perceptions of "the problem" and "the solution."…”

“…For example, in the state of Missouri, the initial impetus for assessment was portrayed by an ideological governor as an element of the reform of higher education. The relatively centralized and active centralized decision making in states such as South Dakota and New Jersey stands in sharp contrast to efforts under way in Virginia, or the balkanized actions in Colorado (Ewell, 1987b;Boyer, 1990).…”