September 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 28

Member to Member

A narrative map

the fact that there is virtually no limit to
the amount of data that can be collected
and analyzed, very large amounts of information can be collected and then analyzed to create a visual representation
of the story that emerges from the comments. These visuals, also called " narrative maps, " can then become the source
for the creation of the specific narrative
about the behavior and opinions of those
who voice themselves.
The narrative map, above, is based on
responses to an open-ended question
about the feelings of 350 respondents.
As the map shows, people are often
conflicted about their opinions, and it
is unrealistic to consider that they have
either clear-cut positive or negative opinions. The line between the 'negative opinion' and 'positive opinion' suggests this
duality of opinion. However, the thick
connection between 'parks' and 'positive
opinion' also suggests that people are relatively happy with the parks, just as people are happy with the 'location' of the
parks. These maps are read by looking at
the size of each node (e.g., the larger blue
circle for 'positive opinion' suggests that
many respondents used positive supportive language in their comments), and the
thickness of the lines shows the strength
of the relationship between nodes. For
instance, these respondents felt that the
location of the parks tends to allow for
family use of the parks. I urge the reader
to consider this map carefully and elicit
other information encapsulated in it.
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Parks & Recreation

It is possible to create maps periodically
to see how the story changes as decision
makers implement changes in the community, and, thus, retain a constant sense
of the pulse of the community by following exactly what people are saying about
recreation and leisure in a community.

...a more complete and
robust narrative can
be obtained by the
combination of numerical
data and the narrative data
extracted from narrative
maps.
This approach releases the decision-making process from the constraints
of charts, graphs and percentages and
harnesses the voice of the people. It is
this voice that makes up the notion of
" big data, " which has become a mantra
in contemporary discussion about the
way in which information is transforming decision making. The volume of " big
data " related to community opinions and
behaviors is only expected to increase, as
more people can be queried about their
needs and interests.
This wealth of data needs to be har-

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nessed and analyzed in a meaningful
way. The cost of doing this is minimal,
since data collection using the internet
is relatively inexpensive, compared to
mailing out printed questionnaires or
interviewing people on the phone. The
computational needs are not exorbitant
(the computer program used to create the
map above is under $2,500). All that's
needed is the will of the decision makers
and elected officials to invest in listening
to the communities they serve.
Eventually, a more complete and robust narrative can be obtained by the
combination of numerical data and the
narrative data extracted from narrative
maps. Both have their specific limitations, but in combination they can produce a story that not only shows the
percentage of people who would express
a need for a new facility, but also offers
greater depth in relation to the specific
needs. These methods complement each
other with the properly conducted numeric part offering generalizable data
and the narrative maps, allowing many
community members to weigh in with
their feelings in their own language.
The limitation of sample size in the
case of the numeric data is offset by
the " richness " of the big data analysis,
whereas the linguistic biases of the voices of the people is offset by the statistical
rigor of the numeric data. It would be
particularly useful for recreation professionals to embrace this " mixed method "
approach to more effectively arrive at decisions about how to spend the limited
resources available.

Additional resources on the web:
www.themediawatch.com
www.narbs.info
Ananda Mitra, Ph.D., is Professor of
Communication at Wake Forest University
(ananda@sayithere.org).

September 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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