Exam 9: Evaluation Research

Health-care researchers in Texas are conducting a randomized field experiment on the effects of providing free health care to people over 65 years old.One of the logistical issues with this study,however,is that people in the control group tended to drop out of the study at higher rates since they were not benefiting from the treatment.What do sociologists call this phenomenon?

Which sentence best describes the role politics play in intervention research?

List and briefly describe the three major challenges of evaluation research.Choose one type of challenge and hypothesize in 1-2 sentences how that challenge might manifest itself in a study of an intervention reducing class sizes in an elementary school.

A study of white collar crime (e.g. ,financially motivated crimes perpetrated by white collar professionals)attempted to measure the intervention of teaching Wall Street financiers about the social ramifications of white collar crime.The intervention did not prove successful.What will likely be the next steps for the study?

In medical studies,what is the term meaning the treatment the participants would normally receive outside of the study and not some lesser treatment?

An intervention into children's test scores measures the impact of children who regularly study for two hours per night.However,some children in the intervention fail to consistently study for two hours per night,affecting the results.What type of issue is this?

What defines quasi-experimental research methods?

In the ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment)intervention,researchers conducted qualitative fieldwork to get a sense of major work-life issues facing Best Buy employees.This information was then used to write relevant survey questions.This strategy of using qualitative information to inform quantitative research is called

In an intervention study of aging populations,a Midwest department of health attempted to measure the impact of providing in-home care to elderly patients.One group of patients,who had previously been treated in a hospital,was returned to their homes and visited by nurses and volunteers several times per week,while another group stayed in a traditional hospital setting.In 2-4 sentences,explain which group in this scenario constitutes the treatment group and which constitutes the control group.

In an evaluation study of the impact of car breathalyzers on drunk driving,researchers collected both quantitative survey data and qualitative interviews.In this case,the quantitative evaluation could determine

Researchers are attempting to conduct an intervention providing public transportation vouchers to residents as a method of reducing neighborhood crime rates.In hindsight,researchers discovered that participants in the treatment group were already less likely to have a criminal record than the general population to which they were compared.This problem is an example of

One of the main goals of evaluation research is translation,which means what?

Which of the following projects best illustrates the logistical challenges of evaluation research?

If you were to help plan an intervention study measuring the effects of parents' reading to their children before bedtime on students' test scores,propose and explain in 1-3 sentences one step you might take to avoid biased results.

What action did researchers in the Tennessee (STAR)experiment undertake to alleviate ethical concerns?

What is the distinction between a time-series design and multiple time-series design?

Which evaluation study is considered one of the MOST important educational investigations ever undertaken?

Randomized field experiments,according to the text,are often considered the "gold standard" of evaluation research.However,that doesn't mean they are perfect.In 2-4 sentences,explain what a randomized field experiment is and appraise some of its strengths and weaknesses.

A poverty organization in Los Angeles is testing the intervention of cash handouts to women on welfare.Though they may produce robust sociological data,randomized field experiments such as this one carry serious ethical concerns.What is one likely ethical concern of such a project?

When researchers adjust for the effects of additional variables to ensure the treatment and control groups are equivalent,they are using