Considerations When Hosting A Qualitative Sensemaking Session
November 2025
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Introduction
A data party is a gathering that allows those with interest or influence in a project to increase their understanding of findings and provide input into data sense-making.
Sensemaking is the process of creating a shared understanding of data from evaluation.
Sensemaking sessions or data parties can help you ensure that your data are more meaningful and useful. These sessions enable clients or participants to engage directly with the findings, share their perspectives, contribute further analysis, and add valuable context that helps refine and strengthen recommendations. Our article on the benefits of a data party walks you through the basics of hosting data parties. While the principles and tips we present work well for presenting all types of data, there are some special considerations when the majority of your data are qualitative. Qualitative findings can be complex and difficult to present without bombarding your sensemaking participants with walls of text. Taking the time to structure your qualitative sensemaking session can help deepen relationships, support the co-creation of meaning, and develop greater buy-in for recommendations and evaluation findings.
Purpose of the session
For sensemaking sessions focused primarily on quantitative data (numbers), it’s advisable to hold off until your analysis is mostly complete so that the charts and graphs you show participants are accurate. When working primarily with qualitative data (text), it can be advantageous to hold a sensemaking session earlier in the analysis process; typically once you have an understanding of the main themes and potential outliers (between steps 3 and 4 in this article). This approach allows participants to actively shape emerging themes, add context, and contribute valuable insights that will enrich and inform the ongoing analysis.
As our data party article suggests, it’s important to clarify the purpose and objectives of the qualitative sensemaking session and ensure that participants understand their role and what level of influence they will have on analysis. Participants could include program recipients, staff, program leads, leadership, or evaluation advisory committee members.
A range of outcomes can be achieved in a qualitative sensemaking session, including:
Co-analysis: participants examine excerpts of text and participate in qualitative analysis.
Theme and recommendation refinement: participants examine preliminary themes or recommendations and provide feedback, including providing additional context for interpretation and recommendation development.
Report structure and clarification: participants support determining the relevance of various findings and develop the narrative with the evaluator.
Structuring the session
No matter the goal of your session, it’s important to take the time to make the findings flow and get a clear understanding of the data. It’s essential to organize the information so that you don’t overwhelm participants with too much information. Since qualitative findings often involve large amounts of text, it’s easy for participants to feel overloaded or lose focus amid lengthy passages, making it harder to stay engaged with the session’s objectives. As the evaluator, it’s your responsibility to present the findings in clear, manageable segments that are easy to understand, while ensuring the overall narrative remains consistent and connected. One way to do this is to start by presenting the overall themes or report structure, then work through each theme or report section with your audience, occasionally zooming back out to review how the information fits together.
If the focus of the session is on co-analysis, consider providing participants with the sections of text to be analyzed in advance. Make sure to provide an overview of how to conduct qualitative coding. Use break out groups to enable participants to work together and promote discussion.
If the focus of the session is on theme and recommendation refinement, we suggest structuring the session by evaluation questions or major themes. Provide a brief overview of the main findings and takeaways, then work in a step-wise manner through the findings, providing guidance and structure for participants to engage with the data. A potential session structure could include:
Review of the data collection methods and purpose
Overall findings: List the themes and provide a sentence of explanation
Walk through the themes one-by-one, providing 1-2 sentences defining the theme and 1-2 quotes which exemplify the theme. Ask clarifying or discussion questions after each theme to gauge participants’ reactions.
Review the overall findings and ask high-level questions about the findings as a whole.
Provide the draft recommendations and ask for feedback.
As the evaluator, you are the expert in what the current data say. It’s essential to be well-prepared with specific details, clear explanations, and illustrative examples to address any questions participants may raise.
If the focus of the session is on report structure and clarification, we like to walk participants through the various report sections. Guide participants to help you prioritize findings and develop a strong narrative. This session should focus on what the report audience needs to know in order to understand the key messages.
Hot tip!
Visuals can help to break up large chunks of text and enable participants to zero in on the main points. Consider demonstrating how material relates to each other with flow charts or data maps. Pictures can also offer a mental pause and communicate ideas or emotions more succinctly than words alone.
During the session
We like to view these sessions as a source of data for the evaluation. Ask your participants if you can record the session, keep any materials they produced, and take lots of notes. Document key insights and decisions made during the session and communicate to participants how their input will be used. This not only ensures transparency but also helps foster a sense of shared ownership in the evaluation process.
Addressing Challenges and Common Pitfalls
While qualitative sensemaking sessions offer valuable opportunities for collaborative analysis, they also present several challenges and common pitfalls that evaluators should be prepared to address. These include:
Overcoming data overload. Keep discussions focused and digestible. Pause more often for reflection and discussion. Use targeted questions to guide participants through the material.
Preventing groupthink and ensuring diverse perspectives are valued. When soliciting opinions and feedback, ensure that broad participation is encouraged. In situations where the sensemaking participants are not representative of the overall evaluation participants, ensure their perspectives do not unduly influence or skew the findings.
Handling sensitive or unexpected findings with care. Qualitative data are more likely to contain emotional nuance or sensitive findings. Ensure that respondents’ confidentiality are protected and sensitive topics and details are approached carefully. Pay attention to how your participants are reacting to the findings as you walk through them and be ready to address unexpected responses.
Time management— balancing depth with progress. Qualitative data are rich and expansive. Find the balance between digging in deep enough to discuss meaningful insights, without getting lost in the details or running out of time to go through all of your findings and discussion questions. Keep a close eye on the amount of time you have as you work through the findings together. You may need to move the group along in conversation.
Adapting on the fly—remain flexible when the conversation takes an unexpected turn. Build in some flexibility so you can follow the conversation and uncover new insights, but be ready to refocus the group if they get off track.
After the session
Once your qualitative sensemaking session is done, it's important to ensure the insights and data gathered are put to good use. Begin by organizing your notes and any materials produced during the session, such as flipcharts, sticky notes, or digital artifacts. Review recordings if available and ensure all participant contributions are properly documented and anonymized to maintain confidentiality.
Reflect on the discussion and identify how and where you will use the information you have learned. Be sure to follow up with participants to communicate how their input will be used and thank them for their contributions.