Description
Perhaps the most important part of any research project is the research question. Without an effective research question, it is difficult to know what you are trying to accomplish and why. In this week’s Learning Resources, you explored the elements of effective research questions, as well as the different types of evaluation designs, and how these designs act as “maps” to guide you through a research project. You will apply this information to developing a research question and select an appropriate evaluation design for your Final Project.
For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources for this week. Consider an organization that you work for or are familiar with. You may use an organization from the Virtual Community if you wish. For that organization, think about a problem or a program that would most benefit from research and evaluation. The problem or program may be the same one that you used in the Week 1 Discussion. What question would you want to answer with your research? What type of evaluation design would be most appropriate to answer this research question?
Considering the specific program, problem, or policy you want to address, think about what type of research question and evaluation design would work best in this situation.
Post the research question and evaluation design you would like use to evaluate the program, problem, or policy that you identified in Week 1’s Discussion. Justify why this evaluation design is the most appropriate design to address this program, problem, or policy.
Here is my discussion from Week 1
Many organizations whether in the public or the private sector usually undertake numerous programs that seek to boost their knowledge on a given area of interest.
Further, the various nonprofit organizations usually undertake programs that seek to help a specific group of people in society from multiple perspectives. However, measuring the effectiveness of these programs, in the end, may remain a challenge. Therefore, such organizations seek to use research and evaluations to gather information about the effectiveness of their programs concerning helping the target population.
The Mental Health America stands out as one of the various organizations that provide numerous services to the mentally challenged people within the community. The organization currently operates with a meaningful work and recovery program which seeks to help the mentally challenged people recover quickly and get themselves work that can help in the end to create a sustainable and independent life (Mental Health America, n.d.). One way in which the organization can measure the effectiveness of the program revolves around looking at the statistics of the total number of people who get employed after a successful recovery process. However, the organization may find it hard to perceive and understand the level of self-esteem that the affected population may get as a result of the mentioned program. Therefore, the organization may need to conduct comprehensive research to determine the effectiveness of the program improving the level of self-esteem and confidence in the recovering mental health patients.
Conducting research, in this case, may help the Mental Health America organization to understand the effectiveness of the program that it offers to the affected populations. In the end, the organization will find it easy to determine the possible flaws that reduce the ability to achieve the set goals thus improving them. Additionally, the research, in this case, will allow the relevant stakeholders involved in the program to make informed decisions regarding the best practices that can help the affected populations (Johnson, 2014).
References
Johnson, G. (2014). Research methods for public administrators (3rd ed.). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Mental Health America. (n.d.). Meaningful Work and Recovery. Mental Health America. Retrieved 28 November 2018. From http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/meaningful-work…
