Exam 9: Evaluation Research

Explain the concept of a cost-benefit analysis,and compare and contrast how at least two constituents might respond to a cost-benefit analysis of the Results-Only Work Environment intervention.Possible constituents may include,but need not be limited to,the company (Best Buy)or its employees.

When using a matching procedure to study the impacts of class size on student achievement,researchers would most likely assemble a control group by matching participants based on which characteristic?

Self-reported measures (such as surveys)are more sensitive to participants' moods and to social desirability bias,which means what?

Urban poverty researchers have developed an intervention aimed at reducing predatory lending (i.e. ,unfair financial lending practices,often targeting poor communities of color).Which of the following research methods is best suited to measure whether the intervention worked?

Though all students in the STAR study benefited from smaller classes,the gains were larger for minority students in both the first and second grades.Why is this finding important?

A study attempted to intervene in heroin overdoses in the Midwest by giving away an expensive antidote medicine to local clinics and users' support centers.However,the intervention achieved only small effects,with treatment areas having only slightly lower reported overdoses than control areas.A cost-benefit analysis of such a study might determine what?

At what school level was the 1996 Abstinence Education Program implemented?

What is one reason why a study investigating whether a new urban housing assistance program reduces homelessness might not achieve internal validity?

Why are randomized field experiments considered the "gold standard" of evaluation research?

A group of labor researchers studying fast food workers hope to measure the effect of eliminating on-call scheduling (when workers are scheduled to be "on-call" but may or may not have to come into work)on worker health and well-being.One unanticipated consequence researchers found in the treatment group was that even though formal on-call schedules were eliminated,fast food managers continued to call in workers on their days off,a phenomenon which has been documented in similar studies.Based on what we know from the STAR study,what lesson do evaluation researchers need to keep in mind?

When researchers attempted to re-create the STAR study in California,results were less positive than anticipated.According to the text,what is one possible explanation for these different outcomes?

Compare and contrast in 1-2 sentences the concepts of "reasonable scope" and "answerability" in evaluation research.Consider the research question proposed by the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)study and explain in 2-3 sentences the extent to which it is reasonable and answerable.

In the ROWE intervention,Best Buy's work teams were split into two categories.One category of work teams implemented a Results-Oriented Work Environment,in which employees could work whenever and wherever they wanted as long as they got their work done,while the second category continued work as usual.How would sociologists classify the latter category?

In pre-post design,researchers measure the outcome of interest once before the intervention,introduce the intervention,and then measure the outcome again.Why is this considered the simplest method of reflexive control?

One purpose of the Results-Only Work Environment intervention study at Best Buy was to

In 1-3 sentences,propose an intervention aimed at alleviating a major social problem where you live.Then,list at least one ethical,one logistical,and one political concern researchers may encounter in carrying out the study.

In the Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR)study,why did the researchers create two separate intervention groups?

In a 2002 report,researchers found that in reduced-size classes in California,34% of third-grade students scored above the national median in reading,compared with what percentage of third graders in regular-size classes?

What is the term for when treatment and control groups are formed by a procedure other than randomization?

The textbook looks in depth at two examples of evaluation research: the Tennessee Class-Size Experiment (or the Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio,STAR),and the Abstinence Education Program.Choose one of these programs and explain in 3-4 sentences the focus and outcome of the study as well as at least one difficulty in conducting the study or translating the study's results.