Outnumbered. Quantification and Reactivity Inside Street‐Level Organizations

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the amount of quantitative data in general and performance indicators specifically within street‐level organizations has increased immensely. Although quantitative data is often perceived as information about and for practice, it must also be seen as part of practice itself. Through a bottom‐up approach to numbers using ethnographic data from Danish public employment services targeting vulnerable clients, this article examines what happens when “numbers are put on the table” in street‐level organizations, going beyond categories of “gaming” or “perverse effects.” This is done by introducing an empirically derived typology of “reactions to numbers” that includes three domains: emotions, attitudes, and actions. The research contributes to a better understanding of numbers' organizational lives and performance management systems seen from a street‐level perspective.