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Evaluation Research

Evaluation Research. Appropriate for any study of planned or actual social intervention. Goal is to determine whether a social intervention has produced the intended result. Results are not always well received. Examples of Evaluation Research.

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Evaluation Research

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  1. Evaluation Research • Appropriate for any study of planned or actual social intervention. • Goal is to determine whether a social intervention has produced the intended result. • Results are not always well received.

  2. Examples of Evaluation Research • Fernandez, Kenneth. 2011. "Evaluating School Improvement Plans and their Influence on Academic Performance." Educational Policy 25, 2: 338-367. • Fernandez, Kenneth and Timothy Bowman. 2004. “Race, Political Institutions, and Criminal Sentencing: An Examination of the Sentencing of Latino Offenders” Columbia Human Rights Law Review 36, 1 (Fall): 41-70. • Fernandez, Kenneth and Max Neiman. 1998."California’s Inmate Classification System: Predicting Inmate Misconduct," Prison Journal 78 (December): 406-422.

  3. Policy Analysis vs. Evaluation • Terms often used interchangeably • Policy analysis is often a broader concept • Interested in past and future effects • Often contains a decision criteria • Analysis refers to investigating the true merits of various actions and using that information to make informed and logical choices (Stone 2002) • Policy or Program evaluation is usually more narrow - The goal is to determine whether a social intervention has produced the intended result.

  4. Types of Measurement in Evaluation Research • Outcome (response variable) • Experimental Context - aspects of the context of an experiment that might affect the experiment. • Experimental Stimulus (interventions) • Population - demographic variables as well as variables defining the population.

  5. Ad hoc Evaluation Hearings and Agency Reports Site Visits Program measures Descriptive statistics Comparison with professional standards Thresholds, minimums, maximums Survey of Public Opinion

  6. Evaluation Research Designs: Experimental designs Control/treatment group Quasi-experimental designs Time-series design Correlational design Cross-sectional designs Qualitative evaluations Focus groups, interviews, Historical Comparative

  7. Social Indicators Research • Provides an understanding of broader social processes. • Researchers are developing more refined indicators. • Research is being devoted to discovering the relationships among variables within whole societies. • Examples: infant mortality rates; homicide rates; auto fatalities; voting rates; government spending

  8. Examples: • Dye (1966)

  9. Potential Problems with Evaluations Bias toward positive results Hawthorne Effect Overgeneralization Ethical problems/withholding treatment

  10. Why Results Are Ignored • Implications may not be presented in a way that nonresearchers can understand. • Results sometimes contradict deeply held beliefs. • Vested interest in a program. • Ideological/political support/opposition for policies/policy types

  11. Explaining away negative results Effects are long range Effects are diffuse, multidimensional Not enough money Problem with research design/methodology Conflicting results

  12. Conflicting Results Meier, Kenneth J., Robert D. Wrinkle, and J. L. Polinard. 1999. Representative Bureaucracy and Distributional Equity: Addressing the Hard Question. The Journal of Politics 61, 4(November): 1025-1039. Nielson, Laura B., and Patrick J. Wolf. 2001. Representative Bureaucracy and Harder Questions: A Response to Meier, Wrinkle, and Polinard. The Journal of Politics 63, 2(May): 598-615. Meier, Kenneth J., Warren S. Eller, Robert D. Wrinkle, and J. L. Polinard. 2001. Zen and the Art of Policy Analysis: A Response to Nielson and Wolf. The Journal of Politics 63, 2(May): 616-629.

  13. Conflicting Results Greene, Peterson, & Du. 1999. Effectiveness of School Choice. Education & Urban Society 31 (2): 190—213 Witte. 1998. The Milwaukee Voucher Experiment. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis, 20(4): 229-251

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