When PACE released the data from its Civic Language Perceptions Project in March 2022, not only did we know we couldn’t analyze the 16,000 pages of data, but we shouldn’t. We are a small team, and–very naturally–our team members have their own curiosities and biases. What would we miss if the analysis and interpretation of the data relied on our leadership, alone?
In spring and summer 2022, PACE designed, developed, and implemented a variety of programs and activities that (a) increased capacity to analyze the quantitative data, and (b) democratized the analysis process and encouraged the civic field to engage with the data for their own learning and goals. This phase included:
- Six “Deep Dive” sessions, where PACE presented our analysis on a variety of “looks” into our data and provided an opportunity for funders and practitioners to share what they are seeing in the data, how it applies to their work, and where they could benefit from further sense-making with peers. We encourage you to check out our sessions exploring:
- Four focus groups, where PACE was able to ask deeper questions about Americans’ relationships with the terms and complement the quantitative data with a qualitative component. In partnership with Citizen Data, we explored if people interpreted the words based on their aspirations or the reality of their lived experiences of the terms, the disconnect between philanthropists and the public in understanding and usage of the terms, why certain terms are coded and in what contexts, and the impact and influence of culture in finding meaning, importance, and usage of terms.
- Two mini-papers, which focused analysis on two questions: (1) What does the data tell us about how media consumption might form perceptions and associations to civic language? (2) What opportunities might exist to brand or rebrand terms, based on perceptions and associations? The paper discusses which terms are considered open for branding, moveable, transcendent of association, open to reconsideration, or very entrenched.
- Mini-grants, which made $500 stipends available to anyone in the civic field who was interested in analyzing the data and creating something customized with it. This program supported 19 projects in exploring a variety of topics of interest to researchers and organizations across the country.
- Infographic series, which presented various analyses in a visual format, including highlights on each of the 21 terms, major takeaways from each of the deep dive sessions, and headlines from oversample data.
