This article provides insight into how an adequate approach to selecting methods can establish credible and actionable evidence. The authors offer strategies to effectively support Extension professionals, including program developers and evaluators, in being more deliberate when selecting appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods. In…

Survey IDs are short strings of unique characters assigned to each recipient in a sample population. Extension research can benefit from the improved organization of survey implementation and data collection, better researcher-respondent communication, and reduced survey material costs supported through the use of survey IDs. This article outlines…

With today's technology, Extension professionals have a variety of tools available for program evaluation. This article describes an innovative platform called VoiceThread that has been used in many classrooms but also is useful for conducting virtual focus group research. I explain how this tool can be used to collect qualitative participant…

In order to enhance Extension evaluation efforts it is important to understand current practices. The study reported here researched the evaluation behaviors of county-based Extension professionals. Extension professionals from eight states (n = 1,173) responded to a survey regarding their evaluation data collection, analysis, and reporting…

Using clickers to gauge student understanding in large classrooms is well documented. Less well known is the effectiveness of using clickers with youth for test taking in large-scale Extension programs. This article describes the benefits and challenges of collecting evaluation data using clickers with a third-grade population participating in a…

Describes a process for developing short courses for nonuniversity students that enhances both teaching and research. Discusses the challenges of teaching nontraditional students, the action learning team design, and the ways faculty were able to use data gathered through this process. (Contains 36 references.) (SK)

The article summarizes a report on a study of the methods used, their effectiveness, information sources, and types and value of information gathered by National University Extension Association member institutions to determine educational needs. Eighty-five percent of the institutions responding to the questionnaire rely on their continuing…

A telephone survey of the size, characteristics, and viewing preferences of the audience of WPSX-TV, the educational television station of The Pennsylvania State University. Audience data are based on 1,686 households from a systematic probability sample of 4,176 prime and alternate respondent households in The Central Pennsylvania area. Included…

The present project was addressed to predicted success in a correspondence course. No specific hypotheses were formulated. Three schemes of analysis were conducted. The results are presented for each plan, and comparisons between the results are made. Further, recommendations for future studies are suggested. (Author)

The authors have written this manual to aid workers in the Cooperative Extension Service of the United States to be better able to understand and apply the principles and methods of evaluation. The manual contains three sections which cover the nature and place of evaluation in extension work, the evaluation process, and the uses of evaluation…

Objectives of a three-phase New York State study were (1) to test the feasibility of an institutional sampling survey for providing descriptive data about the nature and scope of continuing education in postsecondary degree-granting institutions, (2) to test the applicability of the Focus Delphi research method for assessing the priority…

This fourth of four sections in a curriculum guide for training energy extension agents contains general introductory materials, an overview of the total curriculum, and five modules: Regional Demography, State and Local Government, Community Education, Neighborhood Workshops (Practicum), and Miscellaneous Activities (Practicum)--Placement,…