A Data Party Is… - Video
November 2025
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A data party is a gathering that allows for those with interest or influence in a project to increase their understanding of findings and provide input into the sensemaking of data. It’s a participatory process that allows many people to come together and contribute to an evaluation.
In this short video, Dr. Bonnie Lakusta explains more about a data party and how it can contribute to the sensemaking of your data. A transcript of the video is included as text in this article.
If you want to read more about data parties and sensemaking, you can also check out these other Eval Academy articles:
An Eval Academy video of Dr. Bonnie Lakusta talking about using data parties in your evaluation.
Video Transcript
0:04
Hi Eval Academy community.
I thought I'd share a little today about data parties.
0:10
First up, some terminology.
I tend to use the terms sense making session and data party interchangeably, and I know that's not true for everyone.
0:19
So what I'm talking about is that very unique time in an evaluation when you've collected data and analyzed it, but have not yet started to write a report or draft any recommendations.
0:31
So at this time, I'll reconvene key interest holders, anyone who helped design the evaluation project leads, maybe participants and operational staff, and I'll share with them completed analysis and results so that we can collaborate on the interpretation.
0:48
This session gives me rich information about interpretation that I can use before I begin writing my report.
It is a form of participatory data analysis so it allows your program interest holders to increase their understanding of the findings and give them that opportunity to add context and understanding.
1:08
A data party is not just presenting findings, it is inviting your project partners to explore, question and co-create meaning in the findings.
1:18
I find them invaluable.
I am not an expert in the programs I evaluate and I don't know what they know.
So without this opportunity to hear and see reactions to findings I could misframe something.
1:32
I will never forget holding a sense making session with a client years ago and I felt like I was presenting bad news to them. I said your time from referral to 1st appointment is 40 days.
But their reaction was genuine excitement.
1:45
They had been working to reduce an access delay and 40 days was actually the win.
This was the improvement. So without that context, I definitely would have misrepresented that result.
1:58
So why host a data party or a sense making session?
2:02
It can certainly help to build trust with your project partners.
Give them a chance to see the data before it lands on their desk in a report.
Of course, as I mentioned, it can surface new and important information.
2:14
It can also help set set the stage to begin drafting recommendations.
While developing recommendations aren't like it isn't necessarily the primary purpose of a data party, it it can happen or emerge. Which of course then, just helps you turn your data into insights and those insights into action.
2:32
So ultimately, a sensemaking session can promote the utilization of your evaluation.
2:38
I'll also use a sensemaking session as a place to ask clarification questions.
We all know that administrative data can be messy, so this is an opportunity for you to check any assumptions that you're making.
2:50
To be clear though, this isn't about changing results. So, if a quote from a participant reads something like, ‘I didn't like this course facilitator, she rushed through the program,’ that's a true experience, and we're not changing that quote.
But by presenting that back to the team, they may have an opportunity to provide some more understanding or context to help you frame that finding.
3:13
Finally, let's not forget that a good data party is also a celebration.
So, don't forget to highlight achievements and celebrate success.
3:23
OK, let's talk a little bit about how I have done in person and virtual data parties.
In person, it's certainly easier to make it feel like a party by bringing the cake literally, or donuts, or even playing games.
3:36
Either way, the key is that you come prepared with analyzed data and with some clear and easy to read data visualizations or quotes.
3:46
I've heard some people say that data parties are better for qualitative data, but I actually think they work equally as well for quantitative. Your presentation of the data can be whatever you want. It could be a slide deck, a place mat, a handout. It could be a gallery walk with a wall of posters of data that you're sharing.
4:03
Any way that gets your participants seeing what the results are saying, but stopping short of offering your own interpretation. How you then facilitate discussions is also up to you.
4:14
You can go chart by chart or group by group and discuss together. You can ask for breakout sessions.
You can use sticky notes. Any way that gets your participants engaged in the data and thinking about their meaning, and of course, with the ability to then share their thoughts.
4:30
A few extra tips here. I generally don't present all of the data I've gathered because there's often a lot, and frankly, some of it doesn't need making sense of. So, if 97% of respondents would recommend a program to a friend, there's not a lot of interpretation that needs to happen there. So, I will search through the analysis and pick out results that are maybe more open to interpretation or where there's conflict and triangulation.
4:56
But because you were likely not sharing all of the data, it's important to make sure your participants know that.
5:02
I have had some feedback that it can feel like I'm only presenting negative findings.
So, be transparent and clear with your participants about what you're choosing to share and why.
5:12
And finally, have some questions prepared ahead of time. As the facilitator of the discussion, you need to be prepared to facilitate the discussion. So, have those questions ready.
5:22
It could be as simple as asking. Let's talk about why 50% of respondents agreed with this statement and 50 disagreed.
What do you think is happening here? If you have a particularly quiet group, I have found success with this group of questions.
5:39
If you really want to make it a party, you can even bring the dice, hand out some dice and whatever number someone rolls, they answer that question. This can help come up with spontaneous or gut reactions to the data that you're presenting.
5:52
Of course, the final step of hosting a data party or a sense making session is figuring out what to do with that information that you've learned. Honestly, I tend to view these meetings as a data source in and of themselves. I'll often seek permission to record the meeting or I'll take lots of notes.
6:07
I then use and reference that information when I'm writing the report and certainly when I'm drafting recommendations which are now more likely to be relevant and feasible.
6:17
I hope this was helpful to you and wish you luck at your next data party or sense making session.