CH 12 Flashcards
What is evaluation research’s goal?
to evaluate the impact of social interventions
Evaluation research is the process of?
determining whether a social intervention has produced the intended result. most social interventions take the form of programs that have been created to do some kind of societal good
Evaluation research can take on several forms. For example…
—Needs assessments are often carried out to determine the nature
and extent of a problem that might be addressed with a social
intervention.
—Cost-benefit studies determine if the results of a program (the
benefits) can be justified given the expenses (cost).
—Monitoring studies [also called process evaluation studies] provide a steady flow of information about a social intervention as it is carried out.
the success of an intervention can be assessed only if…
desired outcomes have been specified
when do context variables need to be measured
when evaluating an intervention
social intervention success/failure is usually assessed in terms of…
“gradations of success”
Measurement
the evaluation researcher must clearly specify the purpose of the intervention to be evaluated and the way in which key variables are to be measured
what is possible in evaluation research
- -true experimental designs with randomization of research subjects to experimental and control groups
- -may be possible to randomly assign subjects to an experimental (program exposure) condition and control (no program exposure) condition, for example.
Quasi-experimental designs
–sometimes random assignments of subjects to conditions is often not possible in the real world
–The “classic” experimental design could be used for example, in
which an “experimental” group enters into a program and a comparison group (not created through randomization) serves as a point of comparison. Since groups are not created through randomization, this would be a quasi-experimental design
–A time series design can be used in which a group is measured at several points before and after it receives the social intervention. Each person thus serves as his/her own control to create a before/after analysis of the intervention.
–A multiple time series design adds a comparison group to the basic time series design. This comparison group is also measured over time, but does not get exposure to the social intervention.
what is an example of doing research in the real world and running into logistical issues that a laboratory researcher will not face?
For example, the researcher may not have control over the context in which an intervention is being evaluated. The research may also have to deal with administrators who are not “on board” with the study, and possibly even opposed to it.
what is an example of ethical issues in evaluation research
For example, comparison groups may not get access to a program that is beneficial
Social indicators research
—Social indicators research can also provide evaluative data of value to
researchers.
—Social indicators data can provide insights into how a city, state, region or the entire nation is “performing” on some dimensions of interest.
