bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Impact of the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) on City-Level Youth Crime Victimization Rates
Authors: Petrosino Anthony , Turner Herbert , Hanson Thomas , Fronius Trevor , Campie Patricia , Cooke Cailean 
Published: April 2023

Background: The physical, emotional, and financial costs resulting from youth violence are well documented.
Purpose: This article summarizes the results of a quasi-experimental evaluation study to test a youth violence intervention program in eleven cities in Massachusetts.
Setting: In 2011, Massachusetts initiated the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI), which provides a comprehensive public health approach for young men believed to be at “proven risk” for being involved with firearms.
Intervention: The SSYI program components include: (1) Specific identification of young men, ages 14-24, at highest risk for being involved in firearms violence; (2) Use of street outreach workers to find these young men, assess their needs, and act as brokers for services; (3) The provision of a continuum of comprehensive services including education, employment, and intensive supervision. Eleven cities with the highest count of violent offenses reported to the police in 2010 were selected for SSYI funding in 2011 and began implementing the program.
Research Design: Short-interrupted time series design with a comparison group. The observed and predicted trends in monthly violent victimization rates for the 11 SSYI cities were compared to the next 23 cities (as they ranked in reported violent crime in 2010).
Data Collection and Analysis: Using police incident data, researchers examined SSYI's impact on monthly city level violent crime, aggravated assault and homicide rates for persons ages 14-24.
Findings: Results indicated that SSYI had a statistically significant and positive impact on reducing the number of victims of violent crimes, aggravated assaults, and homicides per month that were reported to the police. A city with SSYI has approximately 60 fewer victims of violence each year, ages 14-24, per 100,000 citizens over the post-intervention period.
Measuring Agency-Level Results: Lessons Learned from Catholic Relief Services’ Beneficiary and Service Delivery Indicators Initiative
Authors: Carr Harry , Scott Kelly M. 
Published: April 2023

Background: Many NGOs have less success documenting their results at the agency level than at the program or project level. Little has been published on the challenges NGOs face in developing and measuring agency-level results. To address this issue, InterAction, an alliance of NGOs, commissioned a comparative study that drew on the existing grey literature, and a sample of 17 InterAction member organizations through case studies and interviews.
Purpose: This paper builds on that InterAction study by presenting one of the first published case studies of a successful agency-level measurement (ALM) system – Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS’) Beneficiary and Service Delivery Indicators (BSDI) initiative.
Setting: A faith-based multi-national relief and development NGO.
Intervention: N/A
Research Design: A case study approach was used to describe and document the development of the CRS ALM.
Data Collection and Analysis: The information in this study is derived primarily from CRS files and documents. Data reflecting ALM practices in other NGOs were derived from the 17 InterAction member NGOs. Data reflecting the ALM practices developed by specific NGOs and presented in tabular form in the paper were derived from official documents published by those NGOs.
Findings: The authors discuss key lessons for other large and small organizations to consider when developing their own ALM systems.
What, How, and Why? A Comparative Analysis of 12 Goal-Free Evaluations
Authors: Youker Brandon W. 
Published: April 2023

Background: Goal-free evaluation (GFE) is any evaluation in which the evaluator conducts the evaluation without reference to predetermined goals or objectives.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine GFE in actual practice focusing on what GFE is, how it is conducted, and why the evaluators use it.

Setting: Not applicable.

Intervention: Not applicable.

Research Design: Document analysis.

Data Collection and Analysis: The researcher collected data from a non-random sample of 12 cases of GFE found in published and non-published papers, reports, and guidebooks. The researcher analyzed the documents using quantitative and qualitative content analysis.

Findings: The findings suggest that goal-free evaluators consider GFE an outcome evaluation that supplements GBE. These goal-free evaluators typically used an ex post facto evaluation design, non-random sampling of stakeholders, and semi-structured interviewing to collect data. The evaluators described using GFE to improve the evaluand, to find side-effects, and to evaluate highly complex evaluands.
Children’s Opinion of Retrospective Pre-Post ‘Then-Test’ Survey Validity
Authors: Kelly Leanne M. 
Published: April 2023

Background: Over the past forty years there have been a number of studies conducted to compare traditional pre-post surveys (pretest-posttests; administered in two stages before and after an intervention) with retrospective pre-posts (thentests or pre-then-post-tests; administered after intervention only, with participants asked to reflect back to complete the ‘pre’ retrospectively). These previous studies have been with adult respondents and overwhelmingly quantitative.

Purpose: This paper examines children’s perspectives regarding traditional and retrospective pre-post self-report subjective surveys.

Setting: A school-based program run by a community services organisation in southeastern Melbourne.

Intervention: Both pre-post survey types were administered to sixty children attending a pro-social skills group run by a community services organisation in southeast suburban Melbourne.

Research Design: Twenty children participated in eight small focus groups after completing the surveys. Each focus group was guided by three semi-structured questions, ran for 10-15 minutes, and had 2-3 participants. This research included an observation component as the researcher was present at the final session when the post surveys were completed. The research also utilised the quantitative findings from the surveys to check alignment with findings from the extant literature.

Data Collection and Analysis: Focus groups & qualitative analysis

Findings: The traditional and retrospective surveys confirm that the commonly recorded phenomenon of response shift in adults also occurs with children. Children comment that they prefer the retrospective test, identifying concerns that support theories discussed in the extant literature such as experience limitation, impression management, implicit theory of change, and memory recall.
A Review of the DAC Evaluation Criteria: Upgrading Efficiency
Authors: De la Concha Joaquin 
Published: April 2023

Background: Efficiency has remained for long time the Cinderella of evaluation practice. According to several meta-evaluations only a small number of evaluations include robust and meaningful assessments in this field.
Purpose: Following the review of the Development Assistance Committee’s (DAC) evaluation criteria this article reviews the main causes of efficiency remaining in a secondary role in evaluation practices and proposes: 1) upgrading it through broadening the current economic definition of efficiency, and 2) proposing a set of four evaluation dimensions revolving around the principle of sound financial management, social perceived value, result-based budgeting and interconnectedness with other criteria.
Setting: Not applicable.
Intervention: Not applicable.
Research design: Literature review and empirical pilot testing of proposed evaluation methodology.
Data collection & analysis: Qualitative analysis.
Findings: This paper calls for a shift in focus from efficiency to a broader enriched principle of sound financial management including a strong partner-based focus and highlighting management as a pre- condition “sine qua non” for an intervention to be efficient. Efficiency assessments would then be twofold: managerial (procedures, policies and practices that lay out the requirements for efficiency to take place) and substantial (context, circumstances and reasoning for the existing budget balance between results and target groups). The key aspects of the proposal involve four proposed dimensions to be analysed under this renewed criteria that imply audits and evaluations come much closer and look at each other.
Keywords: DAC evaluation criteria; efficiency; economy; equity; sound financial management; performance audit.
Opportunities and Challenges to Increase Inter- and Transdisciplinarity: A Qualitative Study of the FloodRISE Project
Authors: Forbat Julien 
Published: April 2023

Background: The FloodRISE project, which started in 2013 in Southern California, aimed at better understanding how to promote resilience to coastal flooding. It was based on a cross-disciplinary approach, involving several research teams and local communities.
Purpose: We conducted a qualitative study of the first phase of the project (2013-2015) in order to analyze its inter- and transdisciplinary aspects.
Setting: We conducted this evaluation as a visiting postdoctoral researcher at UCI, not participating in the FloodRISE project.
Intervention: Not applicable.
Research design: We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with members of the three project teams - modeling, social ecology and integration & impact - at UCI in 2015. Data were analyzed and interpreted to identify key aspects of the collaboration within and between project teams, as well as their relationship to local stakeholders.
Findings: The analysis showed that an intensive dialogue-based method of interaction and the presence of boundary researchers played a fundamental role in bridging the conceptual and methodological gaps between social and engineering sciences. These results thus exemplify several possibilities for developing more efficient interactions between researchers in a cross-disciplinary project. However, any cross-disciplinary project should: carefully evaluate potential for participants to become boundary researchers, since participants with multiple disciplinary expertise may be underemployed; improve researchers’ level of readiness, in order to facilitate further interaction and increase time efficiency; and clearly address remoteness issues to avoid lower collaboration between central and peripheral locations.
Keywords: interdisciplinarity; transdisciplinarity; qualitative study; project evaluation; flood risk
Complexity-Aware Monitoring and Evaluation
Authors: Hertz Tilman , Brattander Eva , Rose Loretta 
Published: April 2023

Background: Addressing today’s sustainability challenges requires adopting a systemic approach where social and ecological systems are treated as integrated social-ecological systems. Such systems are complex, and the international development sector increasingly recognises the need to account for the complexity of the systems that they seek to transform.
Purpose: This paper sketches out the elements of a complexity-aware monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for international development programmes in the area of sustainable development.
Setting: Not applicable.
Data Collection and Analysis: The authors draw on existing literature on complexity and evaluation and on their own experience from working in the field of M&E.
Findings: An M&E system should not be seen simply as a tool to track compliance against a pre-determined theory of change. Instead, it is most useful as a real-time approach, constantly defining and re-defining narratives for change that help push systems along trajectories of interest. Dealing with complexity involves embracing uncertainty; and this challenges established notions of accountability—something which funders and implementers must begin to redefine together.
Keywords: monitoring; evaluation; complexity; social-ecological systems; international development programmes; narratives for change; theory of change
Evaluating the Content of Palestinian Curricula in Light of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030
Authors: Elyan Rabiha , Al-Doulat Adnan 
Published: April 2023

Background: Curriculum evaluation is a dynamic and indispensable process necessary to develop the curriculum, and to support decision-makers with evidences to guide the curriculum towards the intended goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the most important universal goals to be taken into consideration by curriculum. SDGs represent a call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Because education, through curriculum, is the nations’ key to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development, this study evaluates the content of the Palestinian curriculum and assesses the degree to which SDGs are included in the curriculum.
Purpose: The study aimed to evaluate the Palestinian school curricula, through using national standards for each SDG, to examine the degree to which the SDGs are incorporated in the curricula, and to know whether there is variation in this incorporation among the different curricular subjects.
Setting: The study evaluates the content of Palestinian curricula of the main subjects based on national curriculum standards developed and published in light of the SDGs. These subjects are: Arabic Language for grades 1-12, Science for grades 1-12, Mathematics for grades 1-12, Social Studies for grades 1-12, Technology for grades 5-12, Agricultural Sciences for grades 11-12, Renewable Energy for grades 11-12, Entrepreneurship and Business for grades 11-12, Management and Economy for grades 11-12, and Smart Buildings for grades 11-12. In addition, timeframe delimit is the academic year 2018-2019.
Data Collection and Analysis: In order to evaluate content of the Palestinian curricula, descriptive-analytical methodology was used by utilizing content analysis of the guideline document for each curricular subject.
Findings: The results showed variation in the inclusion of the SDGs, and absence of essential aspects. The fourth SDG (Quality Education) obtained the highest inclusion percentage with 28.5%. While the fourteenth SDG (Life below Water) obtained the lowest inclusion percentage with 0.8%. In light of the results, the study highlighted variation of the curriculum from SDGs and recommended for the development and enrichment of the Palestinian curriculum to ensure the inclusion of SDGs, with its all dimensions, considering that education in Palestine defined as the main gateway towards progressing achievement of the SDGs.
Keywords: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development; content analysis; evaluation; SDGs; standards
Feminist Evaluation and Gender Approaches: There's a Difference?
Authors: Podems Donna R. 
Published: April 2023

Background: Feminist evaluation and gender approaches offer evaluators distinct ways of thinking and applying evaluations. A Namibian case narrative demonstrates how feminist evaluation and gender approaches, among others, resulted in a useful and used evaluation.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a historical overview and description of feminist evaluation and gender approaches and is intended for those who are interested in understanding these approaches to evaluation.
Setting: Southern Africa.
Intervention: A nonprofit that advocates for sex workers safety and the decriminalization of sex work.
Research Design: A comparative framework is used to describe feminist evaluation and gender approaches. The evaluation employs qualitative methods that explored the reality of sex work and sex workers through both semi-structured and exploratory questionnaires. The approach was guided by feminist evaluation, gender approaches, and to a lesser extent drew on several other evaluation approaches.
Data Collection and Analysis: Interviews and document reviews were used to collect data and content and thematic analyses were used to analyze data.
Findings: Feminist evaluation and gender approaches should be viewed as distinct approaches. Their use should be of interest both to evaluation scholars and to those who design, implement and/or use evaluations.
Using Objective Stylometric Techniques to Evaluate New Testament Authorship
Authors: Royal Kenneth 
Published: April 2023

Background: Bible scholars often debate the authorship of certain books appearing in the New Testament. Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate New Testament authorship by using stylometric analytical techniques Setting: This research focuses on texts appearing in the New Testament. Intervention: This was an exploratory research on evaluation study with no intervention. Research Design: A powerful, state-of-the-art psychometric model was applied to Biblical text in an effort to identify correlations among word usage and writing style among each of the New Testament books. Data Collection and Analysis: Strong’s Concordance was used to provide original Greek text. Computer programming was necessary to create a worksheet that contained a list of New Testament books, each Greek word appearing in the New Testament, and a count of each word’s appearance relative to each book. Rasch-based Principal Components Analysis of standardized residual correlations was used to map stylistic similarities and differences. Findings: With regard to substantive findings, the gospels (Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John) and the narrative book of Acts were closely correlated. Other texts presented a mix of expected and unexpected findings. With regard to other findings, the technique presented in this study offers a great deal of promise to various research and evaluation practices.
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), a national survey of the prevalence of child maltreatment and its correlates: methodology
Authors: Haslam Divna M , Lawrence David M , Mathews Ben , Higgins Daryl J , Hunt Anna , Scott James G , Dunne Michael P , Erskine Holly E , Thomas Hannah J , Finkelhor David , Pacella Rosana , Meinck Franziska , Malacova Eva 
Published: April 2023

AbstractObjectivesTo describe the aims, design, methodology, and respondent sample representativeness of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS).Design, settingCross‐sectional, retrospective survey; computer‐assisted mobile telephone interviewing using random digit dialling (computer‐generated), Australia, 9 April – 11 October 2021.ParticipantsPeople aged 16 years or more. The target sample size was 8500 respondents: 3500 people aged 16–24 years and 1000 respondents each from five further age groups (25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65 years or more).Main outcome measuresPrimary outcomes: Emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence during childhood, assessed with the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire‐R2 Adapted Version (Australian Child Maltreatment Study). Secondary outcomes: selected mental disorder diagnoses (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, MINI), selected physical health conditions, health risk behaviours, health service use.ResultsThe demographic characteristics of the ACMS sample were similar to those of the Australian population in 2016 with respect to gender, Indigenous status, region and remoteness category of residence, and marital status, but larger proportions of participants were born in Australia, lived in areas of higher socio‐economic status, had tertiary qualifications, and had income greater than $1250 per week. Population weights were derived to adjust for these differences. Associations between the number of calls required to recruit participants and maltreatment rates and health outcomes were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThe ACMS provides the first reliable estimates of the prevalence of each type of child maltreatment in Australia. These estimates, and those of associated mental health and health risk behaviours reported in this supplement can inform policy and practice initiatives for reducing the prevalence of child maltreatment and its consequences. Our benchmark study also provides baseline data for repeated waves of the ACMS that will assess the effectiveness of these initiatives.
METODE INKUIRI TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS SISWA PADA PEMBELAJARAN IPA DI SDN TANJUNGSARI I DAN SDN MEKARPOHACI III
Authors: Gianistika Chika , Ajeng Arini Dede , Azizah Syifa 
Published: April 2023

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa dengan menggunakan metode pembelajaran inkuiri dalam mata pelajaran IPA. Penelitian ini menggunakan Kuasi Eksperimental. Pemilihan subyek penelitian secara acak yaitu kelompok eksperimen dan kelompok kontrol. Berdasarkan dapat diketahui metode inkuiri memberikan pengaruh terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa. Uji perbedaan rata-rata gain didapat kemampuan berpikir kritis IPA mencapai lebih dari 50% yaitu sebesar 70,1% dengan kategori tinggi. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa pembelajaran inkuiri memberikan pengaruh positif bagi pembelajaran IPA dan terdapat pengaruh yang signifikan antara kemampuan berpikir kritis IPA melalui metode inkuiri dengan siswa yang menggunakan pembelajaran direct instruction. Diketahui hasil postes nilai rata-rata kelas kontrol adalah 51.71 sedangkan nilai rata-rata kelas eksperimen adalah 74,05. Dengan kata lain kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa dalam pembelajaran IPA kelas eksperimen lebih tinggi dari pada kelas kontrol. Dengan demikian dapat disimpulkan bahwa metode pembelajaran inkuiri dalam mata pelajaran IPA dapat mempengaruhi kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa.
Influence of Relative Humidity on Electrical Properties of Textile Laminates
Authors: GULBINIENĖ Ada , VALATKIENĖ Loreta 
Published: April 2023

The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of relative humidity on the comfort and electrical resistance properties of textile laminates in order to predict possible changes in footwear protection levels. Four textile laminates of different structure and fibre nature were selected for the study. It was determined that water vapour absorption of textile laminates strongly depends on the humidity of the storage environment. The absorption ability of laminates increases about 1.8 – 3 times as relative humidity increases from 65 % up to 95 %. The degree of increase depends on the textile laminate structure and the nature of the materials layers. The electrical properties of protective footwear can be influenced by the structure, thickness, relative humidity, and voltage of textile laminates. For textile laminates composed of natural and synthetic fibres and polymer foam as insulators, the resistivity increases with the thickness of the synthetic fibre and polymer layer. At low voltage (U = 100 V), the textile laminates tested became insulating materials, as the electrical resistivity exceeded the threshold values for antistatic materials in all relative humidity ranges. At high voltage (U = 500 V) the electrical resistivity of textile the laminates drops dramatically when the relative air humidity increases and the level of protection of the laminates depend on the amount of moisture absorbed and the nature of the layer materials. The laminates possessed insulating properties in environments of up to 65 % relative humidity. In a high humidity of the environment, the insulating properties of textile laminates turned to antistatic, except for laminate without a polymeric membrane, which became conductive.