Its All in the Presentation: Data, Ethics & Alternative Facts - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

It’s All in the Presentation: Data, Ethics & Alternative Facts Mid-Atlantic Grants Professional Association Conference Atlantic City, May 20, 2019

Data & Ethics WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS Name, Title and Your Role in the Grant Process

MEET THE PRESENTERS: ❖ Diane Scarangella, MA, Grants Specialist, Bergen County Technical Schools & Special Services School Districts ❖ Laura Troy, MA, MS, LPC. Coordinator, Displaced Homemakers Center @ the Bergen One Stop . Funding Source: NJDCF ❖ Ghazala Nomani, MA. Program manager, Bergen County Adult Basic skills & IELCE Consortium. Funding Source: NJDOL ❖ Diahann De Ruggiero, M.Ed., MSW. Regional Coordinator, McKinney- Vento Education of Homeless Youth Grant Program, Bergen County Special Services School District. Funding Source: NJDOE

Data & Ethics OBJECTIVE To gain a better understanding of the ethics of data collection and use during the development, writing, implementation and evaluation of grant funded programs.

Data & Ethics: Unethical behavior might arise at any point - from data collection to data interpretation* STAGES OF GRANT WRITING ▪ Executive Summary Statement of Need • Program Narrative • Measureable Goals & Objectives • Organization Capacity & Commitment • Evaluation Plan & Methodology • *From Kalla, Siddharth, Ethics in Statistics. https://explorable.com/ethics-in-statistics Figures Don’t Lie, But Liars Figure

Data & Ethics THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRANT WRITING, DATA & PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ▪ PROGRAM DESIGN & DELIVERY ▪ REPORTING: Program Performance Measures, Data Collection & Entry ▪ IMPACT UPON FUNDING

Data & Codes of Ethics: Grants Professional Association Members shall: ➢ Not be associated directly or indirectly with any service, product, individuals, or organizations in a way that they know is misleading. ➢ Not disclose privileged information to unauthorized parties. ➢ Not plagiarize in any professional work… ➢ Use accurate and consistent accounting methods that conform to the appropriate guidelines adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for the type of organization involved [fiscal reporting].

Data & Codes of Ethics: American Grant Writer’s Assoc. Inc. Members ➢ Take care that all solicitation materials and grant management reports are accurate and not misleading. Shall not disclose privileged or confidential information to unauthorized ➢ parties. Are forthcoming and truthful about their professional experience and ➢ qualifications. Shall not accept compensation that is based on a percentage of ➢ contributions or contingent upon the award of a grant.

Data & Codes of Ethics: American Psychological Association 9.02 Use of Assessments. Psychologists (a) Administer, adapt, score, interpret, or use assessment techniques, interviews, tests, or instruments in a manner and for purposes that are appropriate in light of the research on or evidence of the usefulness and proper application of the techniques. (b) Use assessment instruments whose validity and reliability have been established for use with members of the population tested. When such validity or reliability has not been established, psychologists describe the strengths and limitations of test results and interpretation (a) Use assessment methods that are appropriate to an individual’s language preference and competence, unless the use of an alternative language is relevant to the assessment issues

Data & Codes of Ethics: Assoc. of Fund- Raising Professionals Examples of unethical practices: ➢ Misrepresenting facts to justify a case for support: " More than 20 homeless runaways are turned back on the streets every night," when, in fact, those 20 are absorbed by other agencies. ➢ Misrepresenting the size, breadth and source of support in order to validate cause and case: " The overwhelming majority of neighborhood associations feel this need should be met," when, in fact, presentations at neighborhood association meetings elicited only head nodding from the majority of the audience. ➢ Misrepresenting facts about numbers of clients served, demographics of clients served, activities completed or programs planned. ➢ Misrepresenting facts regarding the donors, clients or nonprofit organizations served by the member’s products and/or services. ➢ Conveying false or exaggerated information.

Data & Ethics: ➢ Unethical behavior might arise at any point - from data collection to data interpretation. ➢ Numbers don't lie but their interpretation and representation can be misleading. A survey might not reflect true public opinion because it is ➢ not statistically significant. However , many surveys do not publish this along with their poll and this can be misleading. ➢ Data collection can be made inherently biased by posing the wrong questions that stimulate strong emotions rather than objective realities. From Kalla, Siddharth, Ethics in Statistics. https://explorable.com/ethics-in-statistics Figures Don’t Lie, But Liars Figure

Data & Codes of Ethics: Ethical Issues* ➢ Failing to include number of eligible participants may falsely mislead the reader to believe that study participants are representative of the entire body of eligible participants. ➢ Allowing research sponsors to influence reporting of results. ➢ Inappropriate graph labels ➢ Reporting percentages rather than actual numbers. ➢ Failing to report all pertinent data ➢ Failing to report negative results *Marco & Larkin. Research Ethics: Ethical Issues of Data Reporting and the Quest for Authenticity. Academic Emergency Medicine, June 2000, Vol. &, Number 6

Data & Codes of Ethics: Ethical Issues* Reporting ➢ Results of inappropriately applied statistical tests. ➢ Only the test that yielded the most favorable results. ➢ Differences, when statistical significance is not reached. Reporting a ‘‘trend’’ toward significance ➢ No difference, when… the study sample size is too small ➢ Conclusions that are not supported by data. Opinion or conjecture should not be presented as research findings. * Marco & Larkin. Research Ethics: Ethical Issues of Data Reporting and the Quest for Authenticity. Academic Emergency Medicine, June 2000, Vol. &, Number 6

Data & Codes of Ethics: Ethical Issues* ➢ Data ‘‘dredging” …..merely performing multiple tests to search for significant associations can be misleading and statistically inaccurate. ➢ Ignoring citations or prior work that challenge stated conclusions or call current findings into question. ➢ Inappropriate use of terminology without precise definitions. For example, words such as ‘‘rarely’’ and ‘‘commonly’’ may have differing implied meanings to researchers and readers *Marco & Larkin. Research Ethics: Ethical Issues of Data Reporting and the Quest for Authenticity. Academic Emergency Medicine, June 2000, Vol. &, Number 6

Data & Ethics: Group Activity ✓ Select a note taker who will report on behalf of your group ✓ Read the Scenario on your table ✓ Identify any ethical issues related to data use ✓ Create a solution and share Questions & Answers

Data & Ethics: Thank You Diane Scarangella, MA, Grants Specialist, Bergen County Technical Schools, 540 Farview Avenue, Paramus, NJ 07652 201-343-6000 ext. 2213 diasca@bergen.org Laura Troy, MA, MS, LPC. Coordinator, Displaced Homemakers Center @ the Bergen One Stop, 60 State Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601 201-343-6000 ext. 5533 lautro@bergen.org Ghazala Nomani, MA. Program manager, Bergen County Adult Basic skills & IELCE Consortium, Bergen County Technical Schools, Adult Education Division, 190 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601 201-343-6000 ext. 4638 ghanom@bergen.org Diahann De Ruggiero, M.Ed., MSW. Regional Coordinator , McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Youth Grant Program, Bergen County Special Services, 540 Farview Avenue, Paramus, NJ 07652 201-343-6000 ext. 6588 diader@Bergen.org