Research for People Who Hate Research (But Have to Do It Anyway): Two Case Study Examples

This is part of an ongoing series on how to conduct social science evaluations and research for people who hate research. Read the beginning overview here.

For the purposes of this series, I’m going to refer back to two case studies in order to provide concrete examples of what I’m talking about.

Case study 1: A non-profit food bank

Your friend runs a small nonprofit food bank in a small Midwestern town. She wants to apply for a grant to expand their services, but first she needs to know whether they’re actually having an impact on their clients and community. While all the clients she talks to tell her they’re grateful for her organization, she needs concrete numbers measuring their impact.

Case study 2: therapist

Your other friend is a therapist at a small office in a different small Midwestern town. His new supervisor is trying to decide if the office should begin using a new therapeutic method when working with their clients, who are predominantly women, children, and family victims of domestic violence and abuse. Your friend has been using a particular therapeutic method for years and it seems to be working to help his clients meet their needs and reach their goals, but he wonders if it’s the most effective method.

I picked these two particular scenarios for a couple reasons. First, they’re both situations I’m familiar enough with that I can use them to provide realistic details to illustrate the points I’ll be making in each of my ten research steps. And second, at least one situation should be familiar enough to you that you can easily adapt your own situation to fit the examples I give.

That said, if you’re trying to evaluate something and it doesn’t mesh well with either example, please let me know in the comments and I’ll address it in a special addendum when the series is over.

Emily is currently working on her dissertation for a PhD in school social work. Her past experience includes teaching high school, criminal justice administration, economic development, and residential foster care, but her passion is secondary education, especially regarding underprivileged populations, “bad” kids, and intersectionality. In her free time, she likes to travel around the US and the world to learn firsthand about nonprofit and governmental responses to societal and educational inequality.