YOST4411: Youth Research and Youth Program Evaluation

This course starts with the idea that research should be conducted inside and outside the walls of academia. At a basic level, youth workers conduct research everyday – even if they don’t consider it “formal” research. We all have questions about what is going on in the everyday lives of young people – and we all seek deeper understanding. Given that, there may be an ethical requirement to carefully consider the data used to understand young people. Historically and currently, research with young people is being “done to” and “not with” young people. And often, that data is used to both shape our perceptions of what it is to be a young person and the policies that affect their daily lives. For example, consider what data on emotional regulation is commonly used and how that has shaped suspension policies in schools? Youth workers are often advocates for youth, but they may not consider research about young people as places for action and resistance. Students will begin class by exploring the purpose, definitions and methods of research most commonly used in youth work, with an emphasis on qualitative research as a process highly relevant to daily practice. Students will review a variety of perspectives on research that encourage a more critical eye on subjectivity, the social/political contexts around data, and the acknowledgement from indigenous research methods that a researcher must articulate their relationship to the research question. This course will then move students through a full research experience from a problem to questions, from purpose to methods, towards data collection, analysis, writing, and presentation, as a beginning researcher. Quite a challenge, so expect it to be imperfect and messy. By the end of the semester, students are not expected to complete a flawless research design and report but to gain a deeper understanding of the research process, how to conduct and critique the process, and how to engage others to create potential change based on data. In practical terms, most students will work in a small group to determine research questions, develop a process for gathering data about the questions, analyze the data, and create a report based on the findings. The process will be supported by readings, activities during class time, and through highly focused consultations with research groups with faculty.

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