EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Mind maps and network analysis to evaluate conceptualization of complex issues: A case example evaluating systems science workshops for childhood obesity prevention

Leah Frerichs, Tiffany L. Young, Gaurav Dave, Doris Stith, Giselle Corbie-Smith and Kristen Hassmiller Lich

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2018, vol. 68, issue C, 135-147

Abstract: Across disciplines, it is common practice to bring together groups to solve complex problems. Facilitators are often asked to help groups organize information about and better understand the problem in order to develop and prioritize solutions. However, despite existence of several methods to elicit and characterize how individuals and groups think about and conceptualize an issue, many are difficult to implement in practice-based settings where resources such as technology and participant time are limited and research questions shift over time. This paper describes an easy-to-implement diagramming technique for eliciting conceptualization and a flexible network analysis method for characterizing changes in both individual and group conceptualization. We use a case example to illustrate how we used the methods to evaluate African American adolescent’s conceptual understanding of obesity before and after participating in a series of four systems thinking workshops. The methods produced results that were sensitive to changes in conceptualization that were likely driven by the specific activities employed during the workshop sessions. The methods appear strong for capturing salient levels of conceptualization at both individual and collective levels. The paper concludes with a critical examination of strengths and weaknesses of the methods and implications for future practice and research.

Keywords: Concept mapping; Mental models; Network analysis; Systems science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718917300113
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:135-147

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2018.03.003

Access Statistics for this article

Evaluation and Program Planning is currently edited by Jonathan A. Morell

More articles in Evaluation and Program Planning from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:135-147