2(a) Synthesising the 'findings'
Figure 1. Pulling together the information to get clear on the facts is an important step to finding the right solutions (CC0)
Now that you’ve got interviews, surveys, notes, photos, videos and other information, it’s time to get clear on what the facts are. Getting your facts right is an important part of identifying solutions that will work.
Find your findings
The facts you discovered in your research are called findings. They are descriptions of what you discovered and what people told you. It is important to put these findings down on paper so you and others can easily see them, understand them, organise them, and look for patterns or contradictions.
Figure 2. Don’t forget to triangulate your findings where possible. Where you have more than two sources that indicates findings, they will be particularly robust (Artur Salisz, CC BY-NC 2.0)
The most robust findings are those that are triangulated, or confirmed by more than two sources. In your first changemaker projects, when you are still learning how to construct good investigations, it may not always be possible for you to have confirmation of your conclusions from this many sources. But triangulation is an important goal for reasons that were outlined in the Stage 1 Investigating overview.
To triangulate your research, you should be looking for where information from your sources overlaps, or supports one another. For example, it could be that several groups of stakeholders said the same thing about the problem or need you are investigating. It could be that information from different parts of the Iceberg Model make sense together; in other words, you see patterns of behaviour, systems and mental models that make sense to paint a picture of the situation. It could be that the quantitative data you have from surveys or observations coordinates and makes sense with the qualitative data you have from interviews, focus groups, narrations or other sources. Or perhaps, the primary source data you found matches up with the information you got from your secondary sources.
The three strategies below are ways of getting information you have learned in the open. The first method is more structured and the second and third methods are less structured. People work differently, so you can choose how to do this while keeping in mind what fits well with your project and the type of information that you collected.
Strategy 1 - Write down all the things you now know (findings) that you didn't know when you started your research. Remember to stick to the facts, not your opinions.
You may want to use the Iceberg Model to stimulate your thinking. What behaviour did you see or learn about? What systems exist? What did people tell you about their mental models?
Or you could consider the 5 Ws (and H), for example: who, what, where, when, why, how. Or you could also consider the problem from the perspectives of different stakeholders.
You can write down your findings by:
using a single sentence for each item (doing this on a computer will enable you to organise them later;
writing down bullet points on post-it notes (these are easily organized into groups in the next section on synthesising) - be sure to take a picture of your post-it notes to document your process;
writing diagrams, such as systems diagrams; or
creating mind maps.
Strategy 2 - Freewrite everything that comes to mind that you learned on the topic for a limited period of time (like 15 minutes). It must be in complete sentences and you should not stop writing. It might take several sessions of freewriting for you to put all your findings down on paper. These can also include diagrams, such as systems diagrams.
Strategy 3 - Orally share your findings in a group. This is an especially good strategy if a group of people are investigating a problem together and may have different research findings to share.
This may be done formally, by having individuals make presentations of their findings, or more informally through a post-it note session, or just orally. In this case of oral findings, you would need to have a person act as recorder, by writing / typing minutes of the session or video- or audio-recording it. This could then become part of your documentation.
Project Activity 1
Choose one of the three strategies above and get your findings into the open.
Framing the story
It is now time to make some meaning from your facts. This involves the skill of synthesis, and involves making a story or narrative to explain the situation or problem to yourself and others.
This process is called framing and has a huge influence on how you and others view the problem. By telling the story around your findings, you are presenting a mental model of how the problem should be viewed. As you learned in Module 1(d), mental models have a powerful effect on systems and how we behave. The mental model you develop will go on to influence how you and others think about the solutions to the issue you are studying.
For your framing to be effective you need to find some structure for your narrative - this could be called a framework. Try out the following frameworks (Force Field Analysis is included in the tools list) in your head or sketching on paper to see if one of them is promising to help you structure your narrative:
Figure 4. Like a view through a window, framing helps focus attention on what you believe is important about the situation you have investigated so that an appropriate action can be taken (McGregor, CC BY-NC 2.0).
Iceberg Model - tell the story through the layers of the Iceberg Model
Circle of viewpoints - tell the story through the lenses of different stakeholders (see Stakeholder tool below to help)
Prioritising - tell the story from the least important to most important information
Chronology - tell the story in the time order of events
Force field analysis - tell the story in terms of the driving and restraining factors of change
At this point, if you are working alone, it can be very helpful to find someone to tell your story too. You can use the other person to test your ability to put the findings together in a way that makes sense. The other person can also help you find the holes in your story. You may find that when you are explaining the problem to someone else, it becomes clearer where you need to go into greater depth with your story (zooming in), or where the story needs to be reorganised to be clearer.
The story you tell will become your, and perhaps others’, new mental model. It will shape the systems and solutions you develop and the behaviour that arises from your proposals. Designers often call this, the point of view (POV), and consider it an essential prior step to brainstorming.
Project Activity 2
Try out one or more of the frameworks listed in the previous section to create a coherent narrative around your findings.
Test your narrative on someone else. Does it make sense to them? Are there parts you need to clarify about the story of the issue, problem or need that you investigated?
Examples in different contexts
Reducing plastic in the household
Bar graph showing per week average pieces of plastic package waste in different categories, and annualised totals compared to national averages - it could show, for example, that the household plastic waste consumption is above the national average
Systems diagram (synthesising primary and secondary research) showing:
- inputs, processes (including feedback loops) to and inside the household and waste emitted
- how the household is connected with food and supplies provision and waste management system (with feedback loops) in local community
- how the household is connected with global waste transfers (including feedback loops)
Narrative description of the mental models affecting the purchasing, processing and waste disposal habits of the family (see some samples in Module 1(d). This information could be triangulated with the numerical data and systems diagram.
Mitigating CO2 emissions in the school
Findings could include:
Graphs comparing the CO2 emissions of the school related to electricity, heating oil use, and transportation
Tables comparing CO2 emissions impact of various reduction and mitigation strategies
Systems diagrams (synthesising primary and secondary research) on energy and transportation inputs to the school, processes in the school, and waste outputs from the school.
Force-field analysis of the forces driving and restraining change in energy / transportation use by the school community members
Narrative description of the mental models affecting the energy mix choices of school administration members, as well as the behaviour (use of lights in classrooms, bicycle / transport use) of the school community members.
Informing people with Down syndrome about social distancing during a pandemic
Narratives of people with learning disabilities indicating that they get information from parents or other caregivers. They do not always understand why social distancing is taking place.
A systems diagram showing flows of information from government announcements, to captions and infographics shared on social media, to caregivers, to people with disabilities
A table listing various types of organisations showing that:
- the local government does not provide; easy-to-understand materials for people with learning disabilities;
- local NGOs mostly use social media channels to share COVID-information, but have not created easy-read materials;
- international NGOs are releasing COVID-information and specific disability-related measures; some of them, (ex: DSI) issue easy-to-read guidelines
Documentary analysis of easy-read materials published by international NGOs showing that the most appropriate format for sharing guidelines is an easily-updated digital publication with pictures and short text
Tools
A tool to help plan for and carry out triangulation, an important process to confirm research findings. The tool discussions several ways that research can be triangulated.
Instructions for conducting a post-it session, one way of brainstorming or getting findings out in the open.
An explanation of how to draw causal loop and stock and flow diagrams to illustrate the systems related to your project.
An explanation of how to make mind maps to visualise complex information about a project, or relationships. The tool includes an example.
An explanation of different groups of stakeholders, along with two graphic organisers to help you analyse and compare stakeholder interest and influence.
A graphic organiser for helping you identify and evaluate the strength of forces for change and forces resisting change in a given situation.
Documentation for exhibitions and reports
Don’t forget to document your work. For a reminder about documentation, see Module 1(e).
Ideas for documentation in this section include:
Photographs of post-it sessions
List of findings (with evidence of triangulation if possible)
Systems diagrams
Mind maps
Photographs
Video - a short film of the narrative of the issue / problem / need you have investigated
Excerpts of audio recordings of group discussions
Notes
Works cited
McGregor, Harry. “Framed.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 22 Mar. 2018, https://tinyurl.com/yaytxkpr.
Piñera, Hernán. “Notes.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 31 July 2016, https://tinyurl.com/ycvj7do6.
Salisz, Artur. “Triangulation.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 6 July 2014, https://tinyurl.com/ya336dkp.
Images for examples in different contexts source information:
Samoilov, Yuri. “Coronavirus.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 20 Mar. 2020, https://tinyurl.com/ya2ngksd. CC BY 2.0
Webster, Tony. “Plastic Bottles - Waste.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 16 Sept. 2012, www.flickr.com/photos/87296837@N00/7992944072. CC BY 2.0
XoMEoX. “Tree.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 28 May 2017, https://tinyurl.com/y8bw46ns. CC BY 2.0
