“We don’t base what we believe on the real world, we base what we believe on the image of the world that’s in our minds. When you change the way that the image enters the mind, you change what you believe to be true.” Bill James, baseball statistician
March 12, 2019 •Our instinct to counter misinformation with facts is so strong....but facts alone are not likely to do the trick.
December 8, 2018 •In Episode 2, we continue our quest to rid advocacy communications of an overreliance on personal stories. Why? Research says: They backfire.
December 1, 2017 •While this film certainly educates viewers about the importance of Adverse Childhood Experiences to long-term well being, it also, albeit unwittingly, provides endless opportunity for implicit biases about race and poverty to be reinforced, and offers no actionable policy-based solutions. The effect is likely to leave viewers attributing responsibility for the problem to those portrayed - poor families of color - not to the structural conditions that created inequities.
August 28, 2017 •This blog posts explains research that should make advocates question their reliance on personal stories.
April 23, 2017 •The way the data are displayed makes it unnecessarily difficult to draw the conclusion asserted in that post. There’s a lot going on here, with colors and other features of the chart competing for our attention. E.g.,
March 30, 2017 •Pie charts are RARELY a good tool for communicating data. Here is why:
November 9, 2016 •Infographics won't be effective no matter how clever the design if the data representation does not capture the real story advocates are trying to tell.
August 3, 2016 •Repeating your opposition's frame reinforces their frame, not yours.
June 6, 2015 •
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