Research & Evaluation Flashcards

Which type of program evaluation assesses the extent to which a program achieved its intended goals?

Answer: Outcome evaluation

Outcome evaluation examines whether a program produced its intended results and met its stated goals for participants.

Participatory action research (PAR) is distinguished by its emphasis on:

Answer: Involving community members as co-researchers in studying and solving their own problems

PAR engages community members as active partners in the research process, integrating research with action aimed at improving their conditions.

Which of the following describes a longitudinal research design?

Answer: Following the same subjects over an extended period to observe change

Longitudinal research tracks the same participants over time, allowing researchers to observe developmental changes, trends, or long-term outcomes.

In social work research, 'operationalization' refers to:

Answer: Defining how an abstract concept will be measured in a study

Operationalization translates abstract concepts (like 'depression') into specific, measurable indicators (like a PHQ-9 score) for research purposes.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) in research primarily exists to:

Answer: Protect the rights and welfare of human research participants

IRBs review research proposals to ensure studies involving human subjects meet ethical standards and protect participants from harm.

Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme outlier scores in a dataset?

Answer: Mean

The mean (arithmetic average) is pulled toward extreme values (outliers), making it sensitive to skewed distributions in ways the median is not.