Calling all aea365 readers: What do YOU want to read more about in 2020? by Sheila B Robinson

Hello Loyal aea365 readers! I’m Sheila B Robinson, aea365’s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor with one question for you: What is it that YOU would like to read about on this blog?

I first posted this article in 2015 (and every year since) and we receive excellent responses from readers each time it is published. I typically share responses in a subsequent post and as a result we receive blog articles on some of the suggested topics from authors willing to answer the call. Here we go again with some minor updates to reflect the times:

Lesson Learned: AEA365 has been going steadily since January 1, 2010 with 3600+ contributions (Wow!) from hundreds of evaluators across the globe. We accept individual submissions at aea365@eval.org on a rolling basis, along with inquiries about sponsored or themed weeks. Posts are about any and all evaluation-related topics, and anyone with something to share with fellow evaluators is welcome to contribute! If you are interested in sharing a tip, please be sure to check out our *updated* contribution guidelines here.

As a key learning tool for evaluation, aea365 can also be a fabulous vehicle for promoting evaluation and evidence-based policy. With that in mind, we would like to include your voice as we head into the new year as our aea365 team considers inviting authors and groups to contribute.

Hot Tip: Let’s crowdsource some ideas for aea365 in 2020 and make it the best year ever.

Please let us know what you would like to see in aea365 by responding to these questions in the comments (click the word “Comments” just under the title of the post and scroll down to add yours*):

1. What do YOU want to read or learn more about on aea365 in 2020?

2. Who do YOU want to hear from on this blog?

Thanks very much for your input and your loyal readership.

*Please note that your comments may not appear immediately, but rest assured, we will see them! An aea365 curator must approve incoming comments before they appear publicly.

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

12 thoughts on “Calling all aea365 readers: What do YOU want to read more about in 2020? by Sheila B Robinson”

  1. I’d look forward to any posts about how evaluators utilize the professional guidelines and frameworks for our field (things like the JCSEE Standards and AEA’s Competencies and Guiding Principles). So much work goes into these and they could be applied to just about anything in the field – but how exactly are they being applied? Are they a regular part of evaluators’ work processes? Do evaluators use them to help direct their professional development? Do evaluators actively assess whether they’re adhering to them? Etc.
    Really enjoy the blog btw – looking forward to another 365 days of posts!

  2. I would love to see “success stories” from local affiliates on what they do that works: draws folks in, inspires folks to join/participate, etc.
    Thanks!

  3. I’d love to see more about equitable evaluation. How to challenge the field of evaluation itself. Also, how to increase participant ownership and redistribute power. I’d be interested in more on innovative data visualization and presentation, especially for qualitative data.

  4. More about how organizations can work within often rigid external funder requirements to design and conduct appropriate evaluations for novel or untested programs (applying developmental evaluation, for instance)

  5. I am always interested in reading more about the use of qualitative data in evaluation. Along with working as a full-time evaluator, I adjunct teach qualitative research. Growth in technology and access to qualitative data means we better and easier ways to collect information. I love challenging students to think about ways to present qualitative data in brain-compatible ways. There is room for more studies and writings on this topic!

  6. Thanks, AEA- big fan of the blog! Would love to read/ learn more about iterative and systems practice evaluation methods for continuous adaptation of interventions, as well as the resources and processes that help to facilitate this kind of learning as we go, especially when multiple stakeholders are engaged. Thanks!

  7. This is not a suggestion for a topic but a different type of suggestion: I would love to see analytics on all the AEA365 blog entries. That would provide some insight into which topics, authors, approaches, etc. tend to be liked, shared, or are trending through various media (which is of course influenced by other factors like time of week/ year, news cycles, etc.). It could also point to gaps, potentially.

    This could be a regular blog entry itself–I think I remember some analytics like this being shared before and some on the website but it would be great if it were an ongoing function/ tool.

    It’s the evaluator in me!

    (And thus, I do recognize the associated need for a mechanism to collect and analyze this data–am not up on the full capacity of web analytics but know it still requires an investment of resources).

    1. I really wish we could do this too! I looked into analytics recently with the help of some evaluation colleagues. It’s actually quite complex and challenging to get an accurate idea of who is reading the blog. It’s difficult to know who is just opening aea365 in a browser and reading the current blog on the home page, vs who is reading an article from email, vs who is getting the email but not actually reading the articles. That said we did take a sample and gained some insight. Hoping to publish a blog about that soon! Thanks Vidhya!

  8. I would be interested in tips about creating an elevator pitch about “evaluation” generally and a tailored pitch about what I do as an evaluation consultant.

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