Evaluating A Youth Racial Justice Program

Scholars in the field of evaluations research have long recognized the difficulty of accurately assessing the effectiveness of social services programming. Programs are often impacted by many complex and dynamic systems that have uncertain impacts on program results. One suggested solution to bolster the validity of such evaluations is to use a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods. This presentation examines the application of a mixed method approach to a youth racial justice program. It finds that mixed methods can be useful in increasing program validity, but that there are many practical barriers to using a mixed methods approach