Social Change, Songwriters and Ipods

On an unbearably hot August night, I recently went to see one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Jackson Browne in concert at an outdoor amphitheater in Kansas City.  One of the best moments of the night, or at least as far as my heat-singed brain could remember, was when he did a song entitled "Looking East" that's a statement of his concerns and hopes about this country as he sees it from his home in California.  The line that always catches me, and one of the reasons I love this song, is "these times are a famine for the soul but for the senses they're a feast."  He goes on with lyrics about the "hunger" underneath our social problems and the power that exists to change things. 

This song, as do many of Jackson Browne's songs, make me think of conversations I've had with a number of organizations regarding how to create social change.  I usually use an example such as this:  Social change comes about because someone, just one person frequently, stands up and points out the issue and offers an option to the way things are currently.  That person, and maybe a few others who have the same revolutionary perspective, offer a vision of how things should be...and some ideas about how to get there.  These people are the innovators.  Think of Steve Jobs (or whomever created the Ipod or Ipad) as a technological innovator.   If the innovators are loud and passionate enough, early adopters jump on.   Those are the people who had an Ipod while the rest of us were still carting around bulky CD players...or cassette Walkmans.  Eventually, when enough of the early adopters join in and start telling others about how great this new thing is, the early majority gets on board.  Those are the people who got an Ipod in about the 3rd generation (while their kids probably had at least a 2nd generation Ipod).   The early majority represents a critical mass or a tipping point where it's more normal to do the new thing than not.  But there are still some who stand back and view the new thing with suspicion or skepticism...at least until they see evidence that the new thing really works...or doesn't cost too much or isn't a fad.  These are the late adopters.  They'd be the people who only recently got an Ipod...or are still mulling over the idea and worrying that something will come along and make the Ipod obsolete.   Finally, there are the laggards.  Really, the laggards are the people who finally give in because they don't have many other options.  They're probably the people who argued with their car dealer about why they have to have a CD player when a cassette player or radio would be just fine. 

This example illustrates the Diffusion of Innovations model by Everett Rogers.  It's one of my favorite models because I think it perfectly illustrates how things actually happen.  We can think of all kinds of examples that are much more relevant than the revolution of the Ipod.  This same process has happened with such major social issues as recycling/environmental consciousness, smoking, civil rights...just to name a few really powerful examples. 

So why did I reference this particular Jackson Browne song in the beginning.  Honestly, I want everyone to go out and buy his music because I like him so much.  But more importantly, his songs always reference the power of the individual to create change.  To quote my good friend Jackson once again "...long ago I heard someone say something about Everyman."   In this song, called "For Everyman," he refers to the power and responsibility of all of us to care for others.  So it's up to individuals to be the voice for change.  Eventually, if you're passionate and have an idea of how to make things better, others join in...and then they bring others...until it's normal to do the healthy, caring thing. 

So these times may be a feast for the senses (thanks in part to the Ipod...or Ipad)...but they don't have to be a famine in so many ways.  It doesn't take a program or even a specific activity.  It just takes one person to start a movement that leads to social change.  And that person can be anyone.  As Jackson says "...power in the song being sung alone" (from "Looking East" again).

Just one last thing:  If anyone has a chance to talk to Jackson Browne, please thank him for being an innovator who inspires others to create change.  And also tell him that regardless of how great he was onstage, it's never, ever a good idea to wear a funky retro polyester shirt in Kansas in August.  I'm just saying... 

Written by Tara Gregory, Research and Evaluation Coordinator & Rock Goddess

Social Network Evaluation in Analysis

Note: This blog post is a reposting from AEA 365. Check them out for more great tips to guide your evaluation processes.


My name is Oliwier Dziadkowiec and I am a fourth-year doctoral student in Community Psychology at Wichita State University (WSU) in Wichita, Kansas. My colleague, Trish Peaster, and I recently conducted a Social Network Analysis (SNA) through our work at WSU’s Center for Community Support and Research. The client requesting the SNA was a coalition composed of 139 members across 10 counties. We were hired to determine the following:

1. Network density of coalition members within and between employment sector
2. Key coalition members within each employment sector
3. Current and emerging leaders, mentors, and innovators across the network
4. Opportunities for enhancing the network

While there are a number of popular software packages for SNA including UCINET , Pajek, and Net Miner, we decided to try Network Genie to collect our data and InFlow 3.1 to analyze the data.

Hot Tip: We had a good experience using Network Genie for collecting social network data. It is administered online and is easy for participants to indicate who they know by simply double clicking on their name. Follow-up questions such as “how often do you communicate with this person” and “how many projects have you worked on with this person” are then asked only for those whom the participant knows. This feature makes answering follow-up questions much easier, especially for large networks. Network Genie is not free, but it is easy to learn and has excellent customer support. Alternative data collection methods can be found in Social Network Analysis (Knoke, D. & Yang, S., 2008).


Hot Tip: InFlow is not as easy to learn, but has several nice features. For instance, data collected from Network Genie can be directly downloaded into Inflow for analysis. These are not sold as a package, however. Inflow also has nice graphical features and good documentation of all the commands needed for analysis. The program has an easy to use “point and click” menu, but the range and flexibility of operations that you can perform are fewer than with other SNA software packages.

Hot Tip: Have a good theory. In order to evaluate the network (size, clusters, key players), we found it useful to use the framework developed by Valdis Krebs and June Holley Building Smart Communities through Network Weaving (pdf). This theory allowed us to objectively judge the strength of the network and make recommendations for enhancing it.

Hot Tip: SNA packages have a variety of measures to evaluate networks. Be sure that you understand the meaning of each measure or have a consultant nearby who does. This is key to making your findings valid and meaningful to your client.

Want to learn more from Oliwier and Trish? They will be presenting as part of the Evaluation 2010 Conference Program, November 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas.

Wichita Survey Takers Wanted

Hey ICT people-

One of our researchers – Emily Grant – needs your help! She’s working on her dissertation about the beliefs/attitudes that Wichita residents have about the environment and needs 1000 ICT residents to fill out her survey.

This survey is purely to gather information; there are no right or wrong answers.




So help her out by donating 15 minutes of your time! http://wichita.kumc.edu/care/








Photo courtesy of Sean McGrath

5 Questions About Visioneering Wichita (And how CCSR was involved)

As some of you reading this blog may already know, Visioneering Wichita has been selected to receive the 2010 Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) Organizational Champion Award presented by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). 

What some of you may not know, is that back in 2005, when the Center for Community Support and Research was known as the Self-Help Network, we were helping shape and develop the fledgling initiative. So in honor of our partners over at Visioneering Wichita, and their well-deserved award, we present “5 Questions about Visioneering Wichita”

Q1: What exactly is Visioneering Wichita?
VW is a 20 year strategic plan that started in 2004 designed to improve the quality of life, foster economic development, and promote civic leadership in the city of Wichita. This plan was based on input from over 16,000 Wichita residents.

Q2: What are the goals of Visioneering Wichita?

• To promote job growth
• Stop the decline of Wichita per capita income
• Provide for a skilled workforce
• Increase the number of post-secondary students by 3% per year
• Develop the downtown area to promote economic development and to expand the arts/culture of Wichita
• Promote racial diversity, opportunity and harmony
• And more. 

Q3: How was CCSR involved in Visioneering Wichita?
CCSR provided a series of leadership development classes for the Visions Partners – promoting civic engagement and community collaboration. As a result of these classes, participants were able to:

• Better understand the elements of a successful community collaboration
• Identify strengths and challenges in collaboration
• Learn how to use their newfound leadership skills within their local organizations, networks and coalitions
• Develop and action plan for organizing and bringing together groups to assess collaborative strengths and challenges.
• Grow in ability and willingness to participate in future strategic alliances and other community leadership roles.

Q4: Will Visioneering Wichita really work?
The plan is solid, but we need the support of the Wichita citizens, businesses and government. If we all work together and focus our efforts, we can drastically improve our quality of life and meet the VW benchmarks.

Q5: How do I find out more about Visioneering Wichita?
Good place to start – The Plan.  Available to download as a pdf from Visioneering Wichita.
Or just contact info@visioneeringwichita.org.

Congrats again to Visioneering Wichita in receiving this national award!



Photo Courtesy of AnyJazz65

Thoughts on Our Nowegian Visitor

Senior researcher Johan Barstad of the Patient Education Research Center in Moere Og Romsdal, Norway, recently visited the Wichita State University Center for Community Support and Research (CCSR) on Thursday and Friday, June 24-25.  Barstad is interested in CCSR due to its 25+ year experience in promoting and researching self-help groups.

Barstad met with CCSR to discuss previous methods of research, methods of assisting self-help groups and how to integrate self-help groups into professional services.  More specifically, Barstad was gaining input on Norway’s national initiative to incorporate self-help groups into health and human services.  Barstad is a part of a research team in Norway who is trying to better understand the diversity of self-help groups in the country and the relation between self-help services and professional services. 

His two days included meetings with CCSR Director Scott Wituk, the CCSR Research & Evaluation Team and the CCSR Mental Health Consumer Initiatives Team.  Additionally, Barstad met with self-help group researchers and experts: Greg Meissen and Lou Medvene from Wichita State University.  Finally, he visited with three Kansas self-help organizations: Project Independence, Good Grief of Kansas and Victory in the Valley.

Scott Wituk commented on the recent visit.  “What Johan and others in Norway are doing is phenomenal.  They are attempting to bring together the very informal, grassroots self-help groups with the professional helping systems to create new forms of sustained, effective, and low-cost care.  They are attempting to create empowered patients who actively participate in their health care.  Self-help groups can play a role in that.  In many ways, the challenges in the U.S. health care system are not too different.  We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and learned a great deal.  I hope to be working with Johan in the future on a few international self-help projects.”   


Photo courtesy of ElBosco

Spotlight on an Initiative: Compassion Kansas

What is Compassion Kansas?

CCSR is in the last year of its Compassion Kansas initiative, a 3-year, federally funded project designed to enhance Faith-based and Community-based Organizations through grants, workshops and one-on-one capacity building assistance.

Capaci-what now?

Community nonprofits, groups, and coalitions can typically be very effective in targeting the specific needs of their local communities. But these smaller organizations frequently lack the organization needed to thrive.

These organizations are far more successful when they operate with adequate funds, thoughtful planning, a well-trained staff, effective boards, and the ability to respond to challenges.

That’s essentially what capacity-building is – giving organizations the tools to do what they do, better.

Okay, so what capacity-building services does Compassion Kansas offer?

In addition to the financial awards, Compassion Kansas provides:
•    Assistance in developing stronger grant applications
•    Strategic Planning
•    Plans for diversifying funding sources
•    Board development and leadership
•    Staff and volunteer management
•    Networking opportunities
•    Statewide attention to the work of these organizations

These services are provided through workshops, and one-on-one mentoring with a CCSR staff member.

What’s in store for the future of Compassion Kansas?

Compassion is undergoing some changes, but the Center for Community Support & Research is committed to continuing capacity-building efforts across Kansas.

So, dear Kansans in community coalitions, alliances, fledgling nonprofits – what would you like to see in the future as far as capacity building efforts go?

Step Away from the Can of Doing: What a Home Depot Commercial Teaches About Evaluation | Dr. Tara Gregory

I've been mesmerized lately—in that kind of love-hate way—by Home Depot commercials wherein a manly man announcer urges people to shop at Home Depot with statements like "turn your doing dial up to 11" and "set your savings swagger on full tilt" and, most nonsensically, "open up a can of doing." I may not be quoting these perfectly except for the "open up a can of doing" phrase. Open up a can of doing? I'm not even sure what this means. But these commercials irritate me quite a bit—mainly because they fill me with an overwhelming urge to run to Home Depot. For what, I don't know.

And that's where my issue lies. Indiscriminate and unplanned opening of a Can of Doing can be wasteful of time and resources. Owning a house that's over 100 years old, as I do, there probably isn't a big enough Can of Doing to cover what needs to be done. If I really thought through what it would take to make my house what I want it to be and made a plan, my trip to Home Depot might be valuable. But I have to admit that my savings swagger will undoubtedly propel me toward superfluous and relatively easy tasks versus those that might actually make my house more solid and valuable.

So what does this have to do with evaluation? I've been involved in a number of evaluation projects where it seems that people have opened up a can of doing without really knowing why. More specifically, organizations often say they want to do an evaluation, but frequently lack a clear idea of what they want to know.

Evaluation is simply a way of answering the big questions about an organization: "What should we be doing? What do people think of our services?  Are we making a difference for those we serve?"

But organizations can get too focused on just doing something, even when it comes to evaluation. I've had multiple experiences where organizations have a list of questions they want to ask, but no real idea of what it is they want to KNOW. There's a big difference here—questions with a capital Q  and questions with a small q. Big Q questions represent your evaluation goal—what you want or need to know. In reality, there aren't that many big Q questions. They're basically about whether your program is needed, how well it's implemented, and what difference it makes. That's pretty much it. But there are a huge number of possible small q questions for each of these big Q questions. And if you don't identify the big Q first, your small q's can go down unnecessary or misleading paths.

If you open the can of doing before really knowing what needs to be done—if you ask the small q questions before identifying the big Q question—at best you'll waste time and energy. At worst, you'll be led astray by information that doesn't really tell you what you need to know.

What nonprofit organizations really need to hear is: Before you get your evaluation swagger on and open up a can of assessment doing, ask yourself what one or two things you really need to know. And step away from that can of doing unless you've finished this task!

For more on evaluation basics, come to the next Compassion Kansas workshop on May 20 (1 - 5 p.m.) called "Does Your Program Work? How to Use Simple Evaluation Techniques and Tools to Answer this Question."  Contact Angela Gaughan at 316-978-3843 or angela.gaughan@wichita.edu to register. (Registration is still open, even if the website says otherwise)




Photo courtesy of  J. Stephen Conn