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Dimension: Measurability

Gather process data

Ability to gather process data in a cheap, reliable, accessible manner.

Maturity:
Low
Importance:
Extreme
Opportunity:
Extreme
Neglectedness:
High
Transnational:
Low

How this is performed now...

  • Process organizers Process organizers factor in data capture methods and balance their intrusiveness with the benefits of measuring for success.
  • Citizens' assembly organizers Citizens' assembly organizers sometimes anonymously record and transcribe deliberations where required for the use of technology. Most use pre- and post-process participant surveying.

Related Resources

Product

Cortico's table recording device

Cortico created the Hearth 2.0 device to record discussions and enable facilitators of its Local Voices Networks to share stories from other conversations in order to cross-pollinate voices and perspectives across communities.
Cortico
Product

DeliberAIde

An AI-powered platform facilitating inclusive democratic dialogue through three stages: 'Discuss' (capturing conversations in-person, online, or hybrid with real-time transcription in 100+ languages); 'Analyze' (extracting key ideas, clustering themes, providing interactive visualization), and 'R...
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Product

Dembrane

A web-based platform that turns unstructured dialogue into actionable plans and policies in real time, enabling organizations to capture input from 2 to 5,000+ participants simultaneously through audio and text recording. Conversations are automatically transcribed and analyzed using AI, providin...
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Frankly

An open-source, video-based discourse platform by Harvard's Applied Social Media Lab facilitating meaningful conversations through integrated discussion guides, flexible facilitation options, and intelligent group matching creating balanced breakout discussions. Operates on the principle that con...
Frankly

Related Product gaps

There are no related product gaps at the moment.

Related goals and research questions

Goal: Deliberations that can be captured faithfully and unobtrusively with full participant consent and ethical protection

What recording modalities (comparing video, audio-only, spatial tracking, or multimodal combinations) most reliably preserve the substance of deliberation while remaining minimally intrusive and respectful of participant discomfort?

Relevant disciplines
Communication & Media Ethics & Philosophy
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

Which transcription and annotation approaches (comparing human verbatim, human semantic, hybrid human-AI, or AI-only) best handle cross-talk, non-verbal communication, and emotional valence while maintaining accuracy standards?

Relevant disciplines
AI/ML Communication & Media
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

What consent, anonymization, and data governance protocols (comparing opt-in vs. opt-out, persistent vs. temporary storage, restricted vs. open licensing) enable practitioners to balance participant privacy and autonomy against the research value of maintaining rich deliberative records?

Relevant disciplines
Ethics & Philosophy Public Policy & Law
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

Goal: Metrics of quality of deliberation that can be measured in real time, enabling facilitators to make adaptive process interventions

What observable deliberative quality dimensions (such as turn-taking equity, argument depth, perspective inclusion, or respectfulness) can be reliably measured through automated content analysis or human observation in real time, and what does measurement reveal about facilitator behavior changes?

Relevant disciplines
Statistics & Sampling
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

Goal: Preference transformation and participant learning that can be tracked throughout the process

What measurement approaches (comparing explicit belief statements, semantic mapping, implicit preference tasks, or network analysis of argument adoption) best capture individual and group learning and preference shifts while remaining feasible to administer at deliberation intervals?

Relevant disciplines
Psychology Statistics & Sampling
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

How do different methods for measuring preference transformation (pre/post surveys, in-process journaling, exit interviews, or network tracking) correlate with one another and with long-term behavioral change, under different deliberative process formats?

Relevant disciplines
Psychology Statistics & Sampling
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

Goal: Long-term effects of participation that can be tracked on individuals and their networks

What particular knock-on effects from participation (spanning civic engagement, political efficacy, discussion spillover, network influence, or policy awareness) are most important to measure, and what longitudinal methods best capture them without excessive participant burden?

Relevant disciplines
Psychology Political Science
Related Capabilities
Gather process data

How do downstream effects from participation systematically vary across different deliberative process formats (comparing citizens' assemblies, deliberative polls, mini-publics, and online forums), and what process features predict effect heterogeneity?

Relevant disciplines
Political Science Psychology
Related Capabilities
Gather process data