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Hi all,
(I hope this kind of academic outreach is okay here - if it isn't, or there's a better place to do so, please do let me know.)
My name is Ryan Bateman. I'm currently working on a Masters Degree in Systems Thinking in Practice at the Open University in the UK. I'm hoping to interview members of the EA community as part of my final thesis, and I'm hoping this is the right place to ask for help!
My final thesis focuses on how quantified measures affect people's value judgements, and so systems and their dynamics. (For example, how does standardised testing shape the education system? What positive and negative dynamics does it engender between stakeholders such as students, universities, educators, or student loan companies, and how can we understand where it could be improved as a result?)
As a case-study for the thesis, I'm looking at how measurability of impact affects and shapes the charitable funding system.
With this in mind, I'm hoping to interview some people who have interacted with the effective giving system in various ways, whether that's simply using sites such as GiveWell to guide donation choices, as someone working for an impact-driven organisation that seeks funding through demonstrable impact, or even simply as someone who's opposed to the concept.
If you've engaged with effective giving in any way, I'd love to talk to you (though I'd be particularly interested in talking to those within Effective Giving organisations, as that perspective seems hard to find).
The interviews themselves would be fairly simple and shouldn't require more than 1.5 hours of your time at most.
To start, I'd spend a little more time explaining what I'm hoping to understand, and then a little of the methodology, ethical/privacy approach, and any details you'd require. If you were still interested and comfortable in proceeding, we'd have a semi-structured interview regarding your perspectives on Effective Giving.
Unfortunately I can't offer any compensation, though after the interview I'd of course be very happy to talk in more detail about what I've learnt so far about Systems Thinking, and what my research has found so far, and of course you'd be thanked in the final thesis. If you're interested in Systems Thinking, I'd do my best to explain what I've been learning and to make it interesting!
If you're interested in helping, or even just in learning more, please do feel free to reach out over email at [email protected] or reply/message here.
Thank you so much for reading and hope to hear from some of you!
