To provide guidance to evaluators and stakeholders, evaluation scholars (i.e., those conducting research on program evaluation) have conducted numerous studies on the feasibility and effectiveness of using participatory and collaborative evaluation approaches in various contexts. While some participatory and collaborative evaluation approaches may involve youth in the evaluation of programs and interventions, few evaluations in this area have been formally documented and/or widely published. As a result, there remains a dearth of empirical research on participatory and collaborative evaluations involving youth. One such collaborative evaluation approach, empowerment evaluation (EE), appears to be well suited for engaging youth in program evaluation, as participants are co-evaluators. Using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, EE aims to teach program stakeholders, including beneficiaries, how to conduct their own evaluations. In this two-part mixed methods research project I sought to investigate and formally document: (a) the use of EE for programs targeting youth; and/or (b) the involvement of youth in EE of such programs. By investigating and documenting these areas, this study builds on the very limited body of empirical research on EE. As such, it provides important information to evaluators who are embarking on evaluations of programs targeting youth, so that they can make informed decisions about the use of EE and the involvement of youth in their evaluation activities. To address these goals, this study used a mixed methods case study approach and included two parts and multiple phases. Part 1 Phase 1 involved a survey of evaluators associated with particular Targeted Interest Groups (TIGs) of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) who are involved in evaluating programs that target youth. It determined the extent to which: (a) evaluators report using EE to evaluate youth programs; and (b) how evaluators report involving youth in EE of youth programs. Part 1 Phase 2 involved interviews with a select group of these evaluators and explored what factor(s) facilitate and hinder: (a) the use of EE to evaluate programs involving youth; and (b) the involvement of youth in EE of programs targeting youth. Part 2 then used observations from an EE with youth of their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) focused educational outreach program to explore: (a) what an EE of a youth program might look like in practice; (b) how youth can be involved in an EE. Youth also took part in follow-up interviews to allow an examination of: (c) the strengths and limitations of using an EE to evaluate a program targeting youth; and (d) the strengths and limitations of involving youth in an EE of a program targeting youth. Overall, the findings show that the use of EE to evaluate programs involving youth may be limited, however, there are factors that can facilitate and hinder the use of EE and the involvement of youth in EE. The findings also demonstrate that an EE can be carried out in practice with youth acting as co-evaluators and that through EE youth may experience both positive and negative outcomes of using EE and of being involved in EE. In light of these findings, ways to improve the involvement of youth in the evaluation of programs that target youth using EE are discussed.

Evaluations are often an expectation that funders have for non-profit organizations such as Winnipeg’s child advocacy centre, Snowflake Place for Children and Youth (Snowflake Place). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Snowflake Place through the use of a mixed methods case study evaluation employing the tenets of utilization-focused evaluation. A total of 30 interviews were conducted, with individuals from key service providing partners of Snowflake Place and non-offending caregivers of children who were forensic interviewed at Snowflake Place. This study also analyzed the data tracked by Snowflake Place on its service recipients. The results show that although the organization has only been operating for three years, Snowflake Place is able to provide consistent high quality services such as forensic interviews. Results indicate that Snowflake Place has the potential to improve upon the overall positive experiences of both service providing partners and service recipients. / February 2017

“Fresh Fuel: The CanU Food Club” (Fresh Fuel) is the food and nutrition component of the larger CanU program aimed at improving the future well being of vulnerable children. A mixed-method case study evaluation was conducted with Fresh Fuel, employing a Utilization-Focused Evaluation approach. Results suggested that there were some gains in Fresh Fuel Participant (FFP) food and nutrition outcomes. Also, there were a variety of social benefits to FFPs, such as positive interaction with volunteers and peers, and having fun. Volunteers and practicum students developed career goals and skills. Results identified incompatible program goals, time limitations, inconsistent program implementation, and lack of direction in nutrition education; however, Fresh Fuel provided a supportive environment, hands on learning, and included positive nutrition discussions and food preparation experiences. The Utilization-Focused Evaluation approach has resulted in a meaningful report. Rigorous evaluations of Fresh Fuel and other food and nutrition programs are recommended. / October 2015

Community coalitions are an important part of the public health milieu and thus subject to many of the same external pressures as public health organizations--including changes in required strategic orientation. Many funding agencies have shifted their funding agenda from program development to policy change. Thus, the Florida Prevention Research Center created the Community-Based Prevention Marketing for Policy Development framework to teach community coalitions how to apply social marketing to policy change. The dissertation research reported here was designed to explicate the framework's theory-of-change. The research question was: "What are the linkages and connections between CBPM inputs, activities, immediate outcomes, intermediate outcomes, and ultimate impacts?" The author implemented a case study design, with the case being a normative community coalition. The study adhered to a well-developed series of steps for system dynamics modeling. Results from model simulations show how gains in performance depend on a community coalition's initial culture and initial efficiency, and that only the most efficient coalitions may see benefits in coalition performance from implementing Community-Based Prevention Marketing for Policy Development. Theoretical implications for social marketers--e.g., real-world example of how to work `upstream'--and system dynamics modelers--e.g., application of generic structures--are discussed. Practical implications for the framework's developers--namely, the importance of managing the early expectations of framework adopters--are discussed as well.

No description available.

Unaccompanied immigrant youth (UIY) face obstacles that can hinder their education in their host countries. Given that educational attainment can help interrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty, the examination of support systems for UIY is critical. This study examined the role of sports-based youth development (SBYD) programs in supporting UIY students using a utilization-focused evaluation. To do this, two groups’ high school graduation rates were compared: (a) UIY participating in an SBYD program and (b) UIY not participating in a SYBD program. In addition to this quantitative analysis, UIY were surveyed and interviewed to contextualize the results of the graduation rate comparison. The graduation rate analysis demonstrated that students who take part in an SBYD program were more likely to graduate than those who did not. The participants reported that their SBYD program connected them to other people and motivated them to continue their education. In short, this study provides evidence that SBYD programs can promote social inclusion and educational attainment for UIY. Keywords: Unaccompanied immigrant youth, sports-based youth development program, utilization-focused evaluation, graduation rate

Au printemps 2020, une équipe interdisciplinaire (travail social, médecine et psychologie, notamment) et intersectorielle met sur pied la Clinique Mauve, un point de services intégrés pour personnes LGBTQI+ migrantes à Montréal (Canada). Parmi les services offerts, on trouve le programme de liaison, un projet innovateur d’intervention collective ayant pour but de réduire les impacts de la crise sociosanitaire sur cette population. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, je cherche à 1) documenter l’expérience réalisée et 2) déterminer les leçons qu’on peut tirer de cet usage de méthodologies d’intervention collective dans un contexte de crise sociosanitaire. Pour y arriver, j’utilise principalement deux cadres théoriques : la typologisation de l’intervention collective de Bourque et al. (2007) et le modèle de résilience communautaire de Kirmayer et al. (2009). J’inscris ma démarche de recherche dans deux approches évaluatives : l’évaluation axée sur l’utilisation (Patton et Campbell-Patton, 2022) et l’évaluation descriptive en contexte de développement (Marceau, 2022 ; Rey et al., 2022). L’analyse des résultats met en lumière les forces et les limites de l’intervention collective, de l’intervention multilingue et culturellement adaptée et du soutien socio-économique et matériel en contexte de crise sociosanitaire de la COVID-19. Elle permet aussi de découvrir les nombreux défis qui ont ponctué la réalisation de cette expérience dans un contexte hors du commun. Une série de recommandations visant les responsables de la Clinique Mauve conclut ce mémoire. / In spring 2020, an interdisciplinary and intersectoral team (including social work, medicine, and psychology) established the Clinique Mauve, an integrated service point for LGBTQI+ migrants persons in Montreal, Canada. Among the services offered is the outreach program, an innovative collective intervention project aimed at mitigating the impacts of the socio-health crisis on this population. In the context of this thesis, I am seeking to 1) document the experience undertaken and 2) determine the lessons that can be drawn from the use of collective intervention methodologies in a socio-health crisis context. To achieve this, I primarily employ two theoretical frameworks: Bourque et al.'s typology of collective intervention (2007) and Kirmayer et al.'s community resilience model (2009). My research approach aligns with two evaluative approaches: utilization-focused evaluation (Patton and Campbell-Patton, 2022) and descriptive evaluation in a development context (Marceau, 2022; Rey et al., 2022). The analysis of the results highlights the strengths and limitations of collective intervention, multilingual and culturally adapted intervention, and socio-economic and material support in the context of the COVID-19 socio-health crisis. It also reveals the numerous challenges encountered during the implementation of this experience in an extraordinary context. A series of recommendations for the leaders of the Clinique Mauve concludes this thesis.

In disseminating information about health issues, government health departments and NGOs use, inter alia, written health texts. In a country like South Africa, these texts are generally written by medical experts and thereafter translated into the languages of the people. One of these languages is Zulu, which is spoken by the majority of South Africans. A large percentage of Zulu speakers are illiterate or semi-literate, especially in the rural areas. For this reason, Zulu translators have to use ‘simple’ language that these readers would understand when translating English texts into Zulu. Translators are expected to use strategies that can deal with non-lexicalized, problematic or other related terms that appear in health texts, as well as geographical and cultural constraints. This study focuses on the strategies used by Zulu translators in an attempt to make translated Zulu health texts accessible to the target readership. The investigation includes the use of self-administered questionnaires for respondents from two of South Africa’s nine provinces, where Zulu speakers are found (Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal), to determine whether the health texts do reach the target readership. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and other complementary techniques were used to collect data from the selected respondents. Furthermore, a parallel concordance called ParaConc was used to extract and analyse data from the corpus as compiled for the present study, in an attempt to investigate the strategies used to make the translated health texts easier to read. The study uncovers various strategies which are used when translating English health texts into Zulu. These strategies include the use of loan words, paraphrasing, cultural terms and so on. In future, the use of ParaConc can be broadened to investigate newly discovered translation strategies, with the aim of making health texts more accessible to the target readers. Furthermore, this software programme can also be used to study translation strategies as used in other types of texts, for example journalistic texts. / Linguistics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics (Translation Studies))

In disseminating information about health issues, government health departments and NGOs use, inter alia, written health texts. In a country like South Africa, these texts are generally written by medical experts and thereafter translated into the languages of the people. One of these languages is Zulu, which is spoken by the majority of South Africans. A large percentage of Zulu speakers are illiterate or semi-literate, especially in the rural areas. For this reason, Zulu translators have to use ‘simple’ language that these readers would understand when translating English texts into Zulu. Translators are expected to use strategies that can deal with non-lexicalized, problematic or other related terms that appear in health texts, as well as geographical and cultural constraints. This study focuses on the strategies used by Zulu translators in an attempt to make translated Zulu health texts accessible to the target readership. The investigation includes the use of self-administered questionnaires for respondents from two of South Africa’s nine provinces, where Zulu speakers are found (Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal), to determine whether the health texts do reach the target readership. Focus groups, semi-structured interviews and other complementary techniques were used to collect data from the selected respondents. Furthermore, a parallel concordance called ParaConc was used to extract and analyse data from the corpus as compiled for the present study, in an attempt to investigate the strategies used to make the translated health texts easier to read. The study uncovers various strategies which are used when translating English health texts into Zulu. These strategies include the use of loan words, paraphrasing, cultural terms and so on. In future, the use of ParaConc can be broadened to investigate newly discovered translation strategies, with the aim of making health texts more accessible to the target readers. Furthermore, this software programme can also be used to study translation strategies as used in other types of texts, for example journalistic texts. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics (Translation Studies))