Evaluation Research System,Functions, Future

Abstract

The authors focus on evaluation research as a social phenomenon. After identifying the system of actors for whom this phenomenon has meaning, they trace the changing functions and dysfunctions of evaluation research for these actors over time. They find that: (1) there was initially a consensus among actors on the scientific utility of evaluation research; (2) this consensus has broken down as actors realize the various economic, political and value implications of evaluation research for their own interests, and as they struggle to control the process. Because of this interaction of interests and perceptions of function, the authors predict that evaluation research will be, increasingly, the activity of the “for profit” research organizations, rather than of university based social scientists.'     

A Factor Analytic Study of Four Listening Tests

This paper describes the nature and assessment of an interactive videodisc instructional program on listening. The program is available to other educational institutions seeking to expand cost-effective listening instruction to students. Formative evaluations indicate that students enjoyed the Level III interactive multimedia instruction (IMI). Results of a dummy variable regression analysis indicate that students receiving IMI in listening achieved significantly higher immediate cognitive test scores and listening gain scores than did students in the control group. Regression analysis indicated no significant effect of reported GPA, year in school, previous listening instruction, or time-on-task on listening test gain scores of the IMI treatment group. However, significant effects on cognitive test scores were found for reported GPA, previous listening instruction, time-on-task, and senior versus non-senior standing.     

Critical Perspectives on Hate Speech: The Centrality of ‘Dialogic Listening’

This article examines the study of listening as a cognitive process tied to memory and information processing. In examining the study of listening as a cognitive process, the authors discuss creating a theory of listening and the progress of that endeavor. Finally, they address whether or not researchers can create a theory about any concept as abstract as cognitive process or listening.     

Extending the Conceptualization of Listening Fidelity

An exploration of variables potentially related to Listening Fidelity (LF) was conducted through two separate studies. Study 1 indicated that when the potential fidelity of the stimulus message was varied as a function of the number of words and time length, the message with lowest potential fidelity produced significantly lower LF than either the moderate or high potential LF message versions. The moderate potential fidelity message produced the more normal score distribution although not significantly different LF scores than the high potential message. Differences in LF were not indicated as a function of participant sex, gender, or listening style. Study 2 found that LF and two of the three internal scoring components of LF were significantly correlated with four of five dimensions of the Watson Barker Listening Test. Continued emphasis on developing alternative cognitions and exploring listener confidence, cognitive complexity, and the specific function and relationship of LF with listening outcomes were recommended.     

Capacity Building Contributions of Short-Term International Volunteers

Previous research suggests that international volunteer service may have both positive and negative effects on host organizations. Applying a capacity-building perspective, this study uses semistructured interviews to ask staff in hosting organizations to identify the main outcomes of short-term volunteer service. These views were compared with perspectives of staff from matched organizations that do not host international volunteers. Findings suggest that international volunteers may increase organizational capacity by supplying extra hands, providing technical and professional skills, contributing tangible resources, and enhancing intercultural understanding. Volunteers may also challenge organizations as they absorb staff time and resources. Staff members from both types of organizations identify individual and institutional variables that may affect the quality of these outcomes, including volunteers' language capacity and the intensity of the service placement.     

Rethinking Affect in Education From a Societal-Historical Perspective: The Case of Mathematics Anxiety

Affect tends to be treated in educational research as a factor external to, but influencing, cognition. This is so even in those approaches that ally themselves with cultural-historical approaches that denounce the separation of affect and intellect. In this study, the authors use the case of mathematics anxiety to exhibit and exemplify the ways in which affect tends to be theorized. The authors then present the radical alternative that L. S. Vygotsky initially proposed and that was further developed by scholars that advanced his idea of unit analysis. There are several consequences for the measurement of affect and its relations to other dimensions of activity.     

Ethnographic Film as Exchange

This paper discusses how film impacts on the relationship between researchers/filmmakers and their collaborators in the field. Film can function as a gift that strengthens reciprocal relationships and it is a medium that facilitates dialogue and intercultural exchange. The author argues that film has great potential for eliciting cultural differences and enhancing intercultural communication as people relate to the same visual material from their different perspectives more easily than in the case of written text. Through ‘feedback’ and the ‘parallax effect’ film contributes to a reflective space both for the researchers and their local collaborators. Local collaborators often have different stakes in the film and the filmmakers may find themselves in the role of circumstantial activists with only limited control over the film's use and impact once it is produced.     

Family Contingencies Across the Generations: Grandparent‐Grandchild Relationships in Holistic Perspective

Family relationships do not occur in isolation but rather are embedded within greater systems of family ties. In recognition of the need to study families holistically, we explore how relations between grandparents and grandchildren are contingent upon a matrix of intergenerational relationships. Using data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, our analyses focus on person‐centered types of grandparent‐grandchild relationships and the legacy of social ties across the generations, as mediated by other family relationships. We find multiple dimensions of grandparents' involvement with their grandchildren to be associated with (a) whether the grandparents knew their own grandparents when they were young, (b) the grandparent's perceptions of contact and closeness with the target grandchild, and (c) nuances in the relationships of grandparents with the parent generation.     

Single Mothers “Do” Family

This paper explores how single mothers both incorporate others into family life (e.g., when they ask others to care for their children) and simultaneously “do families” in a manner that holds out a vision of a “traditional” family structure. Drawing on research with White, rural single mothers, the author explores the manner in which these women both endorse their children’s attachment to other caregivers and maintain boundaries around issues of discipline and attachment vis‐à‐vis these others. The author demonstrates that single mothers are willing to share this protected realm of family life with a new man (a fiancé or cohabiting boyfriend) as they pursue the goal of what has been called the “Standard North American Family.”     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Timing of First Marriage and Smoking Cessation

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N = 4,050), we consider the relationship between the timing of family formation and positive changes in health behavior. Theories that predict both positive and negative associations are tested. The findings suggest that both mechanisms operate and that the direction of the association depends on the respondent’s race or ethnicity. Whites who marry early are less likely to quit smoking, whereas Whites who marry on time and Blacks and Hispanics who marry at all ages are more likely to quit. The analysis refines the understanding of how family formation shapes changes in health behaviors differentially across the life course, and it underscores the difference in this process for individuals from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.