Experience

     Conducting
     Research
     and Evaluation
     in the Real World

     Designing and
     Implementing Process
     and Qualitative Studies

     Tracking Diverse
     Populations

     Developing Research
     and Evaluation
     Designs for Grants

     Involving Major
     Stakeholders

Methodology

For over 20 years CSRA has provided comprehensive research and evaluation services for a variety of Projects and Contracts — both large and small. You can count on our expertise to deliver results that you can use.

Conducting Research and Evaluation in the Real World

• Research and evaluation in social service and other “real world” settings are our forte. We interview your program recipients where they are to make it easy for them to voice their opinions and needs: the streets, shelters, outpatient clinics, schools, their homes, your programs.


• Training and experience in developing and administering a variety of instruments translate into a research staff who build rapport with participants, collect uniform information on your program and clients, and develop instruments to meet your needs. Frequently used instruments include nationally standardized measures such as the Brief Symptom Inventory, Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I/II Disorders, Global Appraisal of Individual Needs, and Addiction Severity Index, among others.


• Longitudinal studies conducted within multi-year projects that include 12- or 18-month follow-up designs have provided us and our contracted clients with an opportunity to examine the potential long-term effects of programs on outcomes.

Designing and Implementing
Process and Qualitative Studies

• Qualitative methods such as focus groups or individual interviews where opinions can be expressed freely are often the best way for you to discover what you need to know to improve your services. CSRA has designed and conducted a wide range of qualitative evaluations asking the explicit questions that are important to a given program.


• Process, fidelity, and dosage evaluations that we have designed have collected data from client records, databases, group observation, intervention fidelity checklists, supervisors, videotapes, audiotapes, and other methods to provide necessary information about the services being delivered.

Tracking Diverse Populations

• Challenging populations don’t challenge us: CSRA staff know how to recruit and build rapport with populations traditionally seen as “difficult” to engage or locate: individuals with substance dependence and/or mental illness, adolescents, people who are homeless, offenders, families, incarcerated individuals, people with trauma histories.


• Retention rates of up to 96% at 12-month follow-up build on sophisticated field research tracking and retention procedures developed by CSRA over the years. We can follow up with your clients months and even years after they have used your services.


• Data collection in nontraditional settings, such as schools or correctional facilities, has developed our ability to work within highly structured systems to obtain information from research participants. This experience brings CSRA staff to clients who may not have access to transportation and helps us to address ethical issues related to coercion.

Developing Research and
Evaluation Designs for Grants

• Successful grant applications often require research or evaluation plans to provide outcome information on your programs. Our staff’s experience in developing and writing research and evaluation designs for grant packages has resulted in numerous awards, bringing millions of dollars into Colorado communities.


• Knowledge of Federal, State, Local laws and ethical standards regulating research practices translates into expertise in designing research and evaluation that are ethical, respecting and protecting participants’ rights. (See our Guiding Principles for a discussion of our philosophy.

Involving Major Stakeholders

• Team oversight for projects has helped us to coordinate and monitor dozens of short- and long-term research and evaluation projects (see our Projects and Contracts). Involving stakeholders who bring administrative, managerial, line-staff, and consumer perspectives creates a balanced approach to project design and implementation


• Consumer and clinician involvement in project design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation is a guiding principle under which we operate to ensure that the findings are relevant and useful.