Methods Meetings
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Economic Evaluation in Social Policy Research
The 2024 meeting will focus on how to apply economic evaluation to assess social policy programs.
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ADDRESSING UNIT MISSINGNESS IN SOCIAL POLICY SURVEY RESEARCH
Our 2023 meeting focused on addressing nonresponse in survey data, namely how to avoid, mitigate, and address the impact of nonresponse in surveys.
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APPLYING MIXED METHODS AND QUALITATIVE APPROACHES TO SOCIAL POLICY QUESTIONS
Our 2022 meeting focused on how mixed method research approaches, along with qualitative methods within those approaches, can be applied to social policy and program evaluation.
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ENHANCING RIGOR, RELEVANCE, AND EQUITY IN RESEARCH AND EVALUATION THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Our 2021 meeting focused on research approaches that engage communities throughout the research process, practical considerations for applying these approaches, and examples of Federally-sponsored research and evaluation projects that use these approaches.
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EXPLORING CORE COMPONENTS RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SERVICES SETTINGS
Our 2020 meeting focused on how to identify and evaluate core components; the potential value of doing so for program design, improvement, and evaluation; and considerations for applying this approach in Federal research and evaluation projects.
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METHODS FOR PROMOTING OPEN SCIENCE IN SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH
Our 2019 meeting provided participants with a deeper understanding of methods for promoting and implementing open science in social policy research and evaluation.
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RAPID LEARNING: METHODS FOR TESTING AND EVALUATING CHANGE IN SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS
Our 2018 meeting focused on data-driven approaches to examine program implementation, impact, and improvement efforts faster – even in real-time – to provide feedback and input for program modification.
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BAYESIAN METHODS FOR SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
Our 2017 meeting focused on common assumptions around traditional frequentist statistical approaches and introduced Bayesian methods as an alternative for social science research and evaluation.
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Building Strong Evidence in Challenging Contexts: Alternatives to Traditional Randomized Controlled Trials
Our 2016 meeting focused on understanding the kinds of research questions that can be addressed using alternatives to traditional RCTs, and the special considerations and tradeoffs involved in using alternative designs and analyses.
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The Promises and Challenges of Administrative Data in Social Policy Research
Our 2015 meeting focused on challenges and solutions to accessing and using administrative data, and innovative examples of using administrative data to answer policy-relevant questions.
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The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) periodically organizes meetings to convene scientists and research experts to advance critical topics in social science research methodology. The meetings provide an opportunity to discuss how innovative methodologies can be applied to policy-relevant questions and help to ensure that government-supported research represents the most scientifically rigorous approaches available.