Youth Focused Evaluation Topical Interest Group is for Evaluation About Youth, for Youth, and with Youth. The Youth Focused Evaluation TIG aims to collaboratively create learning spaces for all evaluators and researchers (adult and youth) that focus on the practices and outcomes of positive youth development and participatory approaches across informal and formal contexts. The YFE-TIG speaks to youth and adult evaluators’ and researchers’ unique needs by promoting the development and use of responsive tools and methods leading to practical and transformative outcomes for young people. The YFE-TIG helps youth and adult evaluators and researchers develop effective practices in professional development, program quality, measurement, ethics, youth participation, and amplifying youth voice and power. Ultimately, we want to support more profound youth-informed or youth-led evaluation and decision-making. This week’s posts are sponsored by the YFE-TIG.
We are the Morehouse Family Health Study (Asari Offiong, Abigail Wulah, Jen Manlove, Elizabeth Cook, Katherine Connolly, Luc Jamous and Julia Tallant) – a research team at Child Trends! In partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine, Good Deeds Ministry, and Tressa Tucker & Associates, we bring together decades of experience in adolescent sexual health, community engagement, and program evaluation.
The Morehouse Family Health Study, an individual randomized controlled trial, aims to evaluate the impact of Parent Toolkit 2.0, a virtual 3-week program. The program’s goal is to strengthen parent-teen communication on adolescent health topics such as sexual health, substance use and emotional well-being. The study takes place in rural and micropolitan counties across Georgia, where access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) resources is often limited.
Hot Tips
Conducting research in a rural setting can have its challenges, but it’s still possible to design a rigorous evaluation that is successful and responsive to the target audience. We’re excited to share tips from our pilot study for other evaluators to consider.
- Don’t skip cognitive testing: How we ask questions in our survey instruments informs our data quality, so it’s important that we take time to ensure we are truly capturing the outcomes of interest. You will be surprised by how people interpret instructions, questions, and response options. Evaluators often skip cognitive testing due to time and money constraints, but it’s worth the investment to ensure accurate, meaningful data is collected.
- Use colloquial language thoughtfully: Adapt your materials to reflect the everyday communication style of your participants, using language that feels familiar and relatable. As they say in marketing – remember your audience! For example, youth we interviewed were more receptive to the term “more than friends” than “romantic partner,” and adults preferred “being intimate” over “having sex” for questions about their sexual behaviors. Knowing that rural, Black communities can be coy when it comes to discussing sexual health, the use of culturally appropriate language helps to increase engagement.
- Keep it short and sweet: Streamline everything—from recruitment tools to consent forms and surveys. Long emails or messages are more likely to be ignored or skimmed, so repeatedly ask yourself “is there a way to simplify this? is this text necessary?”
- Get personal: In today’s world, we are all bombarded with spam messages. So, we have to think of ways to stand out and ensure our participants engage with our content. Use participants’ names or the study name in text messages. Also consider timing—messaging students on a Sunday afternoon works better than the middle of a weekday when they’re at school.
These tips are a result of the lessons our team has learned in designing and conducting an evaluation study that truly centers young people. Being a youth-centered and youth-focused evaluation means taking the time to consider what young people will: understand, feel comfortable with, and be responsive to.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting YFE TIG Week with our colleagues in the Youth Focused Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our YFE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.
This evaluation approach is inspiring centering youth voice and cultural responsiveness is exactly what’s needed in rigorous research. Your concrete “hot tips” make the theory feel actionable and grounded. The clarity and purpose behind your writing shine through.