1. Identifying the situation of your concern

Define your concern as specifically as possible and give some indication of its severity. Use research data where possible (percentage of low birth-weight babies, graduation rates, literacy levels, etc.), as well as accounts from those involved (see sources below).
 

2. Doing a power analysis

A. Identify those with a stake in the situation of your concern. This might include:  individuals (specific or types of); institutions (schools, workplaces, congregations, community organizations); governmental bodies (local, state, federal); cultural groups (African American, liberal Protestant, Latino, Roman Catholic); socioeconomic classes (working poor, middle class, upper class); and locations (block, neighborhood, city, state, region, nation).

B. Do a power analysis using those identified in A.

1.) What side of the issue does each line up on (allies or opponents)?

2.) How much power to affect the situation of your concern does each have?
 

3. Developing a picture of the history of the situation

Has the situation of your concern always existed? If not, what factors contributed to it? When did things begin to change? Why?
 
 
 

Three Kinds of Resources for Interpreting Situations

1. Researchers and theoreticians

2. Wise practitioners

3. Persons directly affected by the situation