Unit 3 The Evidence Pyramid

Introduction

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A stack of stones on a pebble beach

In this Unit, you will be introduced to the concept of the Evidence Pyramid and how it can help facilitate knowledge exchange during a migration Evidence Café. But first, for an Evidence Café to be effectively completed we must understand what evidence we are using, who has it and how effective that evidence is in answering our questions. It is therefore key to an effective Evidence Café to identify the level of evidence required to answer our questions and what level of evidence we already have.

People use the word ‘knowledge’ very loosely: ‘I have a lot of knowledge about migration’. But the term itself has been the debate of philosophers through to theorists for centuries. Whilst it is a key driver for research and knowledge bases, the drive for theoretically-based knowledge within practical contexts is less clear, as it is often seen as detached from real-world application. But how do we create knowledge from the data we collect and how is this related to information?

Evidence from different types of sources (e.g. media stories, expert reports, policies and research) can be classified into three levels of analysis:

• Data – raw data without meaning, e.g. numbers, words.
• Information – data with attached meaning for ‘who, what, where’.
• Knowledge – information with insight, know-how for ‘why and how’ it can be used.

3.1 Evidence typologies

There is a distinct difference between ‘data’ and ‘information’ in that information is discovered after a meaning making process. This is where data is developed into meaningful information by finding its relevance or purpose. In information science, ‘knowledge’ is defined as valuable information for the human mind that rigorously answers the question of ‘why’ or ‘how’. This makes knowledge a step further than information, and supports the application of information in real life

Evidence typologies and migration

The process of turning data into information and then again into knowledge is complicated and time-consuming. This results in many migration issues having a wealth of data, some of which is turned into information, but little is actually translated into valuable knowledge. The Evidence Pyramid gives a visual representation of this issue and the decreasing amount of evidence at these different levels (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1 The Evidence Pyramid

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A pyramid diagram showing the relationship between data, information and knowledge. At the bottom of the pyramid, in the largest segment is ‘data’, in the middle is ‘information’, and at the top of the pyramid, indicating the smallest proportion, is ‘knowledge’. This represents the levels of analysis that evidence is taken through where data has less analysis and complexity than information or knowledge. This also reveals why there is more data (at the bottom of the pyramid) than there is knowledge at the top.

Figure 3.1 The Evidence Pyramid

The Evidence Pyramid is a visual representation of different levels of evidence analysis that can be built upon to transform raw data into meaningful information and thus into actionable knowledge. It can also support a deeper understanding of the larger quantity of migration data compared to information and the scarcity of migration knowledge. This visualisation can be used in an Evidence Café as a discussion object that support participants to discuss the level of depth of their evidence understandings around a particular topic. As such, we call it a discussion object and Evidence Pyramids have proven very effective with a range of practice communities such as the police and healthcare professionals. The evidence typology is also the basis for another visual representation (discussion object), the evidence typology (see Unit 5). This again supports Evidence Café participants to understand that different stakeholder has different Evidence Pyramids. An Evidence Café, using the Evidence Pyramid and the evidence typology can bringing those participants together to discuss their different understandings and experiences of that evidence.

3.2 Evidence Cafés and discussion objects

As you will have learned in Unit 1, Evidence Cafés are an effective way of collecting different views on a variety of evidence types for a complex topic.

When stakeholders share evidence as part of a migration Evidence Café, they often talk about evidence that has been analysed at different levels, providing different levels of insight. One person may be discussing an issue evidenced with research knowledge, underpinned by a well-structured framework. Another person could be discussing quotes from migrants that they’ve recently heard. Whilst these are both valuable types of evidence, the former knowledge has been analysed to a greater depth and is more effectively turned into actions than the latter data. The knowledge exchange process within Evidence Cafés should help to identify these differences and support the development of further types of evidence. This creates and encourages stakeholders to work together to find migration solutions, rather than believing that one piece of evidence has all the answers.

3.3 The Evidence Pyramid

The Evidence Pyramid is a discussion object that provides Evidence Café participants with a way to classify evidence using their depth of analysis. It can be useful in working on migration issues because it is visually simple and quite intuitive. But this does not mean you can only use the Evidence Pyramid as a discussion object when examining migration. It also allows participants to understand the translation of raw migration data into useful information that could lead to knowledge and insights on how to improve migration practices. This discussion object includes different types of evidence from research to migration processes and personal migrant experiences. However, it must be remembered that it is only usually research data that is turned into research knowledge, often because of limited expertise and time for the analysis process.

The Evidence Pyramid (Figure 3.1) can be used in a collaborative exercise to categorise evidence collected from different viewpoints:

1. Multiple voices then place their understanding on a joint data map (numbers or captured verbal accounts/images)
2. How much data has been turned into information (through identifying meaning attached to that data)?
3. What knowledge has been developed (understanding, theory, frameworks)?

The activity needs to be collaborative, around a collective discussion object (i.e. a printed version of the evidence pyramid). Frequently this is enacted through Post-It notes attached to a representation of the triangle.

With migration, there is an additional issue of access to data for analysis, to extract information and then knowledge. For example, many immigration records are not openly available, and the data is often incomplete, poorly captured and thus likely to be inaccurate and corrupted. Data sharing within migration studies therefore becomes a major issue when developing good quality information and knowledge to enable effective migration solutions; something we discuss in more detail in the next Unit.

Now that you have reviewed in more depth how to categorise evidence, you need to understand how to share this understanding between different stakeholders. Discussion objects (introduced in Section 2.2 and discussed in more detail in this Unit) provide a useful way of enabling and supporting communication between different stakeholders. Activity 3.2 looks at this in more detail.

Summary

Often when stakeholders share their arguments for migration they present evidence to justify their arguments. This Unit has supported you in understanding the distinct levels of evidence (data, information, knowledge) produced from different depths of analysis. This results in stakeholders using a different quality of evidence in their discussions. The Evidence Pyramid is a clear way to represent these differences in supporting effective knowledge exchange. Using the Evidence Pyramid as part of an Evidence Café should enable effective knowledge exchange to answer migration questions. In particular this should help to identify the level of evidence required to answer our questions and what level of evidence we already have.

Unit learning outcomes:

• This Unit has developed your understanding of the Evidence Pyramid tool for knowledge exchange with migration issues.
• You have learned how to use the Evidence Pyramid to help you critically analyse evidence associated with a particular issue and, through an Evidence Café, to support communication and collaboration with those stakeholders.
• You now have an understanding of different levels of evidence to support migration knowledge exchange.
• You can use the Evidence Pyramid as a discussion object within an Evidence Café to communicate with migration stakeholders.
• You have practically applied the concept of evidence levels for the Evidence Pyramid to support you in applying this within your professional contexts.

In Unit 4 Migration evidence  you will learn more about applying the concepts of ‘data’, ‘information’ and ‘knowledge’ within the Evidence Pyramid to real migration data. In particularyou would look at how migration evidence can be applied to facilitate knowledge exchange to answer migration questions.