Little Bites of Big Data for Public Policy

Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritus and former dean at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Until his retirement, he was the Sid Richardson Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a senior adviser at the Volcker Alliance, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Kettl is the author or editor of twenty-five books, including Bridgebuilders: Harnessing Society's Superpowers to Solve Its Biggest Problems, with William D. Eggers; The Divided States of America (2020); Can Governments Earn Our Trust? (2017); Little Bites of Big Data for Public Policy (2017); Escaping Jurassic Government: Restoring America's Lost Commitment to Competence (2016); System under Stress: The Challenge to 21st Century American Democracy Homeland Security and American Politics (2014); The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them (2008); and The Global Public Management Revolution (2005). He has received three lifetime achievement awards: the Dwight Waldo Award of the American Society of Public Administration; the John Gaus Award of the American Political Science Association; and the Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources. Three of his books have received national best-book awards. Kettl holds a PhD in political science from Yale University. He consults broadly for government organizations, at all levels and around the world. He has appeared frequently in national and international media. With his wife, Sue, he is also a co-shareholder of the Green Bay Packers.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1: Knowing Better Doing without Knowing (Everything) The Law of Supply and Demand Making Evidence Speak Chapter 2: Get the Story, Get It Right What Are the Right Questions? What Is a Good Answer? Chapter 3: Tell the Story Filters Seeing Data Making Data Speak Chapter 4: Sell the Story Anecdotes Mediating Information Making the Sale Chapter 5: Speak above the Noise How to Know What We Know Speaking above the Noise Index