Management
  Alternatives Pty Ltd
  ABN 23 050 334 435

A. Thinking about
    evaluation
B. Framing an
     evaluation
C. Evaluation
     report outline
D. Model of service
E. Community
     profile
F. Peer review
G. Focus groups
H. Telling stories
I. Staff time use
J. Questionnaires

H. Telling stories

What do the projects mean for the people effected by them?

First hand stories will tell us some of what is happening at the coal face. Stories can be told from different points of view. Stories can focus on the whole of the project or particular aspects of it.

Telling stories

Participants/clients can tell their stories of:
How they experienced the project.
What it was like.
What it has meant in their lives.
What really worked for them.

Project coordinators can tell their stories of:
What developing and carrying out the project was like.
How they saw the need.
How they saw people changing over time as their needs were met
How they saw themselves change in the process of facilitating projects.

Others people involved in the project can tell their stories from their perspective.

Where a project wants to explore in some depth a particular aspect of its work it may be appropriate to conduct several interviews with people involved focusing their stories on the particular issues you wish to better understand.

Often, the further one is from direct contact with the people involved the more useful case studies become. For example a project coordinator may read a case study and say: But that is what I do all the time. A Management Committee member or a person outside the project who does not have face to face contact with participants in the work of the project may say: Ah! Now I understand what the project is about.

Confidentiality is an important issue in writing case studies. The confidentiality of clients must be protected. This can be done in a variety of ways without losing the authenticity of the story.

Writing the stories

There is no one way to write a case study. The specific approach will depend on what you want to use it for. Writing a good case study will require many skills including interviewing and writing skills.
Here is one approach:

a) An independent person interviews a participant and gets them to tell their story (and tapes the interview). Some starter questions could be:

• Tell us about yourself and your family before you became involved (in this project)
• How did you get involved?
• What was it like getting involved?
• What was the project you were involved with?
• What was helpful/ not helpful about this project?
• What difference has this project made in your life?
  

b) A transcript is prepared. The case study is written based on the edited transcript. The case study should remain in the first person, eg, “When I came to the project I.....”

c) The case study is shown to the person interviewed and checked for accuracy. The person interviewed signs a statement indicating it is a fair and accurate case study and that permission is given for a particular use.

d) An independent person interviews the project coordinator or other people working on the project. Some starter questions could be:

• What was your experience of developing the project? What was it like for you? What were you thinking and feeling?
• How did the project evolve?
• What were the real achievements of the project?
• What difference do you see the project made in peoples lives?
• How has being involved in this project changed you?
• What have you learnt from this project?

e) A transcript is prepared. The case study is written based on the edited transcript. The case study should remain in the first person, eg, “When I started developing the project .....”

f) The case study is shown to the person interviewed and checked for accuracy. The person interviewed signs a statement indicating it is a fair and accurate case study and that permission is given for a particular use.

g) The facilitator or an independent person reviews the files and records and extracts relevant key information such as dates of project activities, numbers attending, etc.

h) The coordinator or independent person writes up the case study based on the stories of those involved and the other facts and figures from files and elsewhere.