Methodical Snark

critical reflections on how we measure and assess the implications of technolgy
This is a blog about how we assess, measure, and make sense of the relationship between technology and society. It’s based on a critical perspective, but tries to be more productive than conference snark. It’s driven by my interest and capacity, but also your requests.
Scroll for the blog roll, or check out the core content types:
I READ THIS FOR YOU: summaries for those with more interest than time. 
MINI LIT REVIEWS: when I wonder or when you ask about something, I check what the research says, and write it up.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP: review of recent research on topical issues.
RANDOM SNARK: reflections and questions about using evidence in civic tech design.

Latest stories

Short summary of OGP research on open gov and trust in Latin America

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What is it?: Restoring Trust through Open Government: an analysis of open government initiatives across Latin American subnational cases (36 pg report presenting research findings from 9 cities, commissioned by OGP). Main Point: Online interaction is bringing municipal governments and publics closer together, building trust in government in the process. Where it’s coming from I read this as part...

2 week Roundup: civic space is good for trust, egov is bad for corruption, metrics for government culture change

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This 2 week roundup has lots of evidence on monitoring to reduce bribery and SMS to increase voter information. There's comparative evidence on increasing political trust and decreasing corruption, plus excellent advances on understanding how to get evidence used in policy. Plus a review of open data measurement frameworks.

Roundup: fact checking works, radio boosts participation, but generally, government innovation is failing.

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Civic tech research saw some exciting findings last week, including experimental work on factors affecting civic voice and representation across multiple country and municipal contexts. Also some useful research for advocating feedback within organizations, great research-driven resources for better advocacy and some deep deep weeds on merging human rights databases.

Methodical Snark critical reflections on how we measure and assess the implications of technolgy

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