Spring 2026 SOWK 460w Week 04 - Using Qualitative and Mixed Methods Designs

Spring 2026 SOWK 460w Week 04 - Using Qualitative and Mixed Methods Designs

title: Spring 2026 SOWK 460w Week 04 - Using Qualitative and Mixed Methods Designs date: 2026-02-09 11:56:37 location: Heritage University tags:

• Heritage University
• BASW Program
• SOWK 460w presentation_video: > “” description: >

In week four of SOWK 460, we will start to explore program evaluation methodologies and the practicality of your program evaluation. Most program evaluations use a variant of mixed-methods. The chapter readings from Royse (2022) focus on qualitative and mixed methods evaluations and needs assessments. This week, students will submit their group work plans and review how to complete the form.

The agenda will be as follows:

• Basics of program design methodologies
• Examples of qualitative research
• Planning the design of and the tasks completion of your evaluation

Learning Objectives this week include:

• Differentiate between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods program evaluation designs.
• Describe the value of qualitative methods.
• Identify and compare three core qualitative methods.
• Construct a group work plan that outlines key components, indicators, sources, and measures of success for their program evaluation.

Week Four Plan

Agenda

• Basics of program design methodologies
• Examples of qualitative research
• Planning the design of and the tasks completion of your evaluation

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods program evaluation designs.
• Describe the value of qualitative methods.
• Identify and compare three core qualitative methods.
• Construct a group work plan that outlines key components, indicators, sources, and measures of success for their program evaluation.

Why Qualitative Design Methods

There are a number of reasons why we might want to gather qualitative data for our study.

• Framing the topic in participants’ descriptions
• Exploring a topic in greater depth and with additional details
• Gain specifics about what works and doesn’t work in a program
• Needing research expertise and sensitivity to draw out responses (text talked about exploring illegal, stigmatized, or socially unacceptable behavior; e.g., opioid use, poor parenting, domestic violence)
• Uncovering foundational ideas to build further literature on (consider no literature and using it as an exploratory study)

Qualities of Qualitative Design Methods

There are some unique aspects of qualitative design methods. They include:

• Qualitative data includes aspects of intersectionality and is messy and complicated to sort and understand (Fine et al., 2021)
• With qualitative data, there is an ability to find emergent ideas (Kapp & Anderson, 2010)
• Closely related to clinical practices (Kapp & Anderson, 2010)

Three Key Qualitative Methods

Royse (2022) describes three specific methods for qualitative research

• Participant Observation: The researcher observes participants in their natural environment, often times as a participant herself
• In-depth Interview: The researcher asks several, open-ended questions to explore participants’ personal histories, experiences, and perspectives
• Focus Group: The researcher asks in-depth questions of small groups of participants to explore their experiences, perspectives, and cultural norms

The Power of Vulnerability

I wanted to have us watch Brene Brown’s Ted Talk, the Power of vulnerability. How many of you have watched this before?

• Her description of grounded theory (a qualitative method)
• The process of understanding and connecting with the research
• Why I call qualitative methods messy

Example of Focus Group Overview of the Study Phases - Introduction to Study

This slide shows all of the parts of this study, the Trauma-Informed PLC. Sometimes you will also hear me refer to it as my PLC. We will be going through each of the these parts in turn to explain what I did before we discuss the results.

Three parts

1. orientation
2. Entry interviews
3. Six focus group sessions:

• Understand how trauma impacts students
• Limiting re-traumatization within the classroom
• Methods for increasing resiliency factors for students
• Engaging in self-care and burnout prevention to reduce the impact of secondary trauma
• Evaluate and implement ideas for promoting systematic changes within a classroom and school-wide
• Develop a tool or recommendation for how other school staff could create similar growth in other schools

Embedded in Each Dialog was:

• Group Book Study
• Self-Care Activity
• Exploration, Reflection, and Action

Components of building a trauma-informed PLC

The following graphic describes all of these components that I have gone through and reviewed. They include the foundations of:

• Following a mutual aid model
• Incorporate an Interdisciplinary Framework

The themes of

• Understand How Trauma Impacts Students
• Limiting Re-Traumatization Within the Classroom
• Methods for Increasing Resiliency Factors for Students
• Engaging in Self-Care and Burnout Prevention to Reduce the Impact of Secondary Trauma
• Evaluate and Implement Ideas for Promoting Systematic Changes Within a Classroom and School-Wide
• Develop a Tool or Recommendation for How Other School Staff Could Create Similar Growth in Other Schools

And the learning strategies of

• Engage in the Process of Reviewing Practice Together for Development
• Use Idea Generation to Develop New and Novel Ideas
• Integrated Self-Care Practices Into Groups and Encourage Use to Reduce Compassion Fatigue
• Use Storytelling to Make Meaning and Develop Cohesion
• Include Scholarly Sources and Develop Connections to Evidence-Based Practice
• DefineConcepts as a Group to Enhance Understanding
• Review Protocols for Professional Socialization

Implementing a group focused on trauma-informed care through this format might be an unexpected idea to some. During the orientation meeting, there was a school admin who joined the orientation meeting. They later reached out to me and shared they could not participate in the PLC at this time due to the time commitment. During the orientation, she commented that she hadn’t realized that it was an orientation for an ongoing PLC-style group. She had believed the training would follow a more traditional sit-and-get training, and the commitment was joining for an hour-and-a-half presentation.

I hope this project will provide an avenue for new ways of learning about trauma-informed care practices in schools that can also come from the PLC and the classroom.

Example of Participant Observation: ABC Data

The textbook talked about structured observations. In a school based setting one method of doing this is collecting ABC data

Explain ABC data collection

Other examples

• Observation while consulting
• Counts (like cars that can see with seatbelts or STAR Reporting)
• Structured data collection

What is your project

[Whole Group Activity] Have groups sit with each other. Give 10 minutes to talk about their projects

Share out what see as project currently.

Program Evaluation Elevator Pitch

Your assignment this week includes a pitch. The following are the parts of that pitch.

• Project Title: Title of Your Study
• Program Being Evaluated: Name of Agency and Program Being Evaluated
• Research Question(s): What question(s) are you trying to answer with your project? Questions should be clear, focused, and feasible within the scope of a semester-long program evaluation.
• Types of Data to Be Collected: What data do you plan to collect (e.g., archival records, observations, interviews, surveys)? Consider how each data type contributes to answering your research question(s).
• Plan for Data Collection: How do you plan to collect your data, and from whom? Describe who will participate, how data will be gathered, and any relevant access considerations (e.g., staff permission, informed consent, etc.).

Your responses do not need to be finalized at this stage, and your evaluation may evolve over the course of the semester. As we move through the semester, you may make revisions to your evaluation plan; however, if you propose changes to your data sources or entirely new components, please follow up with the instructor for approval.

Program Evaluation Work Plan

This is due Monday Morning. It is OK if it ends up changing some or not being exactly followed. The idea is for you to have a good understanding of what you will do in your project. The pitch is included in ith.

Evaluation Design, what is being looked for in each section

• Component: What are we doing and producing?
• Indicator: What information are we looking at?
• Source: Where will it come from?
• Success: How will we know what it means?

Definitions on form

Component: The specific evaluation task, including what data you will collect and the work products you will create. Components should be included for evaluation activities (e.g., surveys, archival data reviews, interviews) and the final products you will produce (e.g., an executive summary or presentation).

Indicators: There may be multiple indicators for any given component. Indicators are the specific measures, variables, or descriptive criteria you will use to assess the component. For evaluation activities, indicators may be qualitative or quantitative. Describe the type of information you will examine (e.g., counts, percentages, averages, ratings, or thematic patterns). If the component is a work product, the indicator may be a brief description of what will be produced (e.g., “a clear, well-organized executive summary”).

Sources: Describe where the data will come from. Your task rows can describe how you will collect the information and the steps involved. Sources may include existing program or agency records (e.g., case files, attendance logs, administrative data) or newly collected data (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups). Evaluations that include multiple sources of information are often more meaningful and allow reviewers to triangulate the significance of the collected data. For your work product components, you might simply state that the source is the program evaluation.

Success: Provide a simple description of how you will interpret the information collected. You are seeking to document how your group will know what the component means. Success does not require positive findings, only clear interpretation.

Task, Person Responsible, and Deadline: Divide each component into actionable steps necessary to complete it. Consider the development, implementation, and review of these steps. Add these as tasks, assign responsibility (individual or group), and include anticipated completion dates.

Show the form, and how to change rows

Probable Components

The following are the components you will add include:

• 1-3 Entries Evaluation Activities (e.g., surveys, archival data reviews, interviews)
• 3 Entries Final Products
  • Logic model development
  • Executive summary components
  • Final presentation

Indicators in Program Evaluation

The CDC (2021) describes indicators in program evaluations:

Definition: The measurable information used to determine if a program is implementing their program as expected and achieving their outcomes

• Input indicators measure the contributions necessary to enable the program to be implemented (e.g., funding, staff, key partners, infrastructure)
• Process indicators measure the program’s activities and outputs (direct products/deliverables of the activities). Together, measures of activities and outputs indicate whether the program is being implemented as planned.
• Outcome indicators measure whether the program is achieving the expected effects/changes in the short, intermediate, and long term.

Criteria for Selection of High-Performing Indicators

[Small Group Activity] In your groups, review the A Checklist to Inform Monitoring and Evaluation

[Whole Group Activity] Debrief

• What do you think you are going to take and adapt to your evaluation

Group Work Plan Rubric

Review the rubric:

Posting your Group Work Plan in the Forums

• Where you will do your program evaluation
• A general idea of what you will look at
• The names of group members
• A brief description of your group work plan

Time to Work on Program Evaluation Elevator Pitch and Group Work Plan

[Small Group Activity] Time to work on completing form