01514pab a2200133 454500008004000000100002200040245012100062260000900183300001500192362001200207520110700219650002101326773003301347180718b2017   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aOlsen, Asmus Leth  aHuman interest or hard numbers?: experiments on citizens' selection, exposure, and recall of performance information  c2017  ap.408-420.  aMay-Jun  aThe abundance of quantitative performance information has motivated multiple studies about how citizens make sense of "hard" performance data. However, research in psychology emphasizes that episodic information (e.g., case stories) often leaves a greater mark on citizens. This contradiction is tested using multiple experiments embedded in a large, nationally representative sample of Danish citizens. The results stress three differences between statistical and episodic data. Citizens have strong preferences for statistical data when asked to evaluate an organization. However, episodic information has in some instances a stronger impact on citizens' evaluations of an organization and often is more emotionally engaging than statistics. Finally, when asked to immediately recall recent performance information about public services, citizens report more elaborate information about personalized stories and experiences than about statistics. Overall, the results raise questions about the ability of hard performance data to dominate and crowd out episodic performance information. - Reproduced.  aPublic utilities  aPublic Administration Review