Debra Rog’s Homelessness Evaluation Study
There is no doubt that studies aimed at evaluating the conditions of life of those people belonging to vulnerable populations are very important as they allow the society to define the most appropriate ways to improve the situation and promote social equality. In her article, Fitzpatrick (1999) tells about her conversation with Debra Rog, who is one of the researchers who has studied the position of homeless families collaborating with specialists from RJW, which is one of the leading benevolent associations in the United States.
If analyzed from the ethical perspective, the decisions that she was making throughout the study seem to be quite informed because they led to important results that can be used for further research on the topic. To complete the evaluation and study the effectiveness of programs for homeless people, the author was using data on families who participated in nine different programs (Rog, 1991).
It cannot be denied that flexibility is very important during such research because the information retrieved from different sources can sometimes be heterogeneous, and a researcher may need to use additional tools to process it. One of the projects that I am working on is the evaluation of orphan care in the United States hat would be causal research. I am planning to focus on the present problems in orphan care and the possible reasons why they occur.
According to my plan, the data will be collected with the help of interviews and mailed questionnaires. I propose this research as it will be able to summarize the results of the implementation of orphan care programs and the perceptions of orphans themselves, and it will be possible to use the results to strengthen the programs studied. Observational data can be used as well as it helps to track changes in orphans’ behavior. The types of information collected through observation for “school readiness outcomes” include the behavior and reaction of children and their parents and track positive changes.
Nevertheless, the use of observational methods is not very effective when it comes to improvement in parents’ skills. The stakeholders that influence my planning are program managers. Taking the issues mentioned above into consideration, one can develop a philosophy about evaluation research as the latter involves problems related both to data processing and ethical appropriateness of methods.
Challenges of Evaluating Advocacy and Policy-Related Projects
There are a lot of researchers related to social science that pay increased attention to policy change and advocacy while defining and evaluating strengths and weaknesses of social programs for people belonging both to the middle class and vulnerable population. A great number of articles are devoted to challenges and problems that occur during such evaluation. To find an effective solution to many of these problems, researchers propose the use of a prospective approach that involves certain benefits such as extended opportunities for progress tracking and promotion of professional education (Louis & Guthrie, 2007).
Also, while conducting the analysis allowing to encourage positive advocacy and policy changes, one has to think about the outcomes and ensure that the results are easily implemented into practice. More than that, it is necessary to remember that evaluation plans should align with the opportunities of advocacy organizations (Coffman, 2007). The programs focused on advocacy change in school readiness include PFCE and AHSA.
The challenges of evaluation include the necessity to design evaluations that will be supported by advocates and establish productive relationships with both policymakers and specialists related to mass media. As for the practical significance of evaluation, it can be used to measure the changes, attract more attention to urgent problems, and, therefore, encourage the development of active citizenship.
Advocacy and Policy Issues of Capellaville ECFE Program
When it comes to planning future evaluations in the field of social work, researchers need to do their best to see the entire gamut of the situation and focus on the state and local funding involved in programs that they analyze. Speaking about the issues that may be important to consider for future evaluations of school readiness outcomes, it is necessary to mention that the collaboration with experienced educating funders is extremely significant as the latter may provide researchers with valuable information (Fine, 2007). More than that, because good projects in the field are aimed at the implementation of significant changes, it is necessary to ensure that the nature of the study is closely interconnected with systematization, and the collected information covers different aspects of a problem (Weiss, 2007).
Apart from that, it often happens that advocacy issues that exist become even more significant because common people do not recognize a problem. Therefore, researchers working in the field should do their best to develop an effective strategy of collaboration with mass media. Attracting the attention of the masses of people to necessary changes related to the effectiveness of school readiness programs, researchers encourage more specialists to work on the problem. Also, evaluating school readiness outcomes, it is important to consider that they should be evaluated based on changes in the behavioral competencies of adults.
References
Coffman, J. (2007). What‘s different about evaluating advocacy and policy change? The Evaluation Exchange, 13(1), 2-4.
Fine, A. (2007). Using and evaluating social media for social change. The Evaluation Exchange, 13(1), 21-24.
Fitzpatrick, J. (1999). Dialogue with Debra J. Rog. American Journal of Evaluation, 20(3), 562-575.
Louis, J., & Guthrie, K. (2007). Blueprint research and design, evaluations to watch: Strategies for assessing policy change efforts: A prospective approach. The Evaluation Exchange, 13(1), 5.
Rog, D. J. (1991). The evaluation of the homeless families program: Challenges in implementing a nine‐city evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 1991(52), 47-59.
Weiss, A. (2007). A conversation with Kay Monaco. The Evaluation Exchange, 13(1), 16-20.