Evaluating Safer Gambling Initiatives: Curiosity and the Messy Middle
Session Title
Session 1-4-C: Lightning Talks
Presentation Type
Lightning Talk
Location
Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV
Start Date
23-5-2023 3:45 PM
End Date
23-5-2023 5:15 PM
Disciplines
Other Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Abstract
Curiosity is the heartbeat of evaluating safer gambling initiatives. As the expectation for evaluating the impact of safer gambling initiatives grows, one of the main challenges stakeholders face is to avoid reducing evaluation to a performative task. In environments where funding is predicated on “proving it works”, stakeholders may feel reluctant to share evaluation findings that are less than completely positive. The messy middle- where we find the design, implementation, or outcomes of our safer gambling initiatives are less than optimal- is where some of the greatest learning can occur. Recapturing curiosity as the driver for the kind of evaluation questions we ask, the way in which we interpret findings, and the platform for sharing those findings with others, is critical to maintaining the evidence in evidence-informed decision making. The intersection between changing funding environments that reinforce the equivalent of publish or peril and stakeholders leading by example will be highlighted as where the catalyst for meaningful change to the way in which we conduct, use, and share evaluation findings reside.
Word count: 177
A clear statement of the implications/“so what?” (not to exceed 50 words)
This lightning talk will challenge participants to consider how they can embrace the messy middle that evaluation brings to bear and use curiosity as a beacon to shine light on what works, when, for whom, and why.
Word count: 37
Keywords
evaluation, performance and monitoring, outcomes, frameworks
Funding Sources
There are no funding sources associated with this submission.
Competing Interests
Greo has received funds in the last three years from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Canada), social responsibility arms of Canadian crown corporations with responsibility to conduct and manage gambling, non-profits, charities, and post-secondary institutions (Canada), New Zealand Ministry of Health, regulatory settlement funds (Great Britain), third-sector charities (Great Britain), and other international regulators.
Evaluating Safer Gambling Initiatives: Curiosity and the Messy Middle
Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV
Abstract
Curiosity is the heartbeat of evaluating safer gambling initiatives. As the expectation for evaluating the impact of safer gambling initiatives grows, one of the main challenges stakeholders face is to avoid reducing evaluation to a performative task. In environments where funding is predicated on “proving it works”, stakeholders may feel reluctant to share evaluation findings that are less than completely positive. The messy middle- where we find the design, implementation, or outcomes of our safer gambling initiatives are less than optimal- is where some of the greatest learning can occur. Recapturing curiosity as the driver for the kind of evaluation questions we ask, the way in which we interpret findings, and the platform for sharing those findings with others, is critical to maintaining the evidence in evidence-informed decision making. The intersection between changing funding environments that reinforce the equivalent of publish or peril and stakeholders leading by example will be highlighted as where the catalyst for meaningful change to the way in which we conduct, use, and share evaluation findings reside.
Word count: 177
A clear statement of the implications/“so what?” (not to exceed 50 words)
This lightning talk will challenge participants to consider how they can embrace the messy middle that evaluation brings to bear and use curiosity as a beacon to shine light on what works, when, for whom, and why.
Word count: 37