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What
is formative research and how can it help your agency?   Formative research looks at the community in which an agency is situated, and helps agencies understand the interests, attributes and needs of different populations and persons in their community. Formative research is research that occurs before a program is designed and implemented, or while a program is being conducted. Formative research can help • define and understand populations at greatest risk for HIV Formative research should be an integral part of developing programs or adapting programs, and should be used while the program is on-going to help refine and improve program activities.
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Good Questions, Better Answers -- � 1998 California Department of Health Services and Northern California Grantmakers AIDS Task Force -- http://www.goodquestions.com |
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Michelle teaches the “Be Proud, Be
Responsible” curriculum to teen girls and boys in detention, probation and in
alternative schools in San Diego County. Although she has a set curriculum to follow,
before she starts a class, she asks the kids a few quick questions. “Usually I go
through and I ask them to tell me their name, age, whether they have a child or not, if
they’re gang members, something they wanted to be when they were a little boy. Some
kids’ll say, ‘I always wanted to be a gangster. My daddy was, my uncle
was.’ So I know what his mentality is. Another will say, ‘Well I always wanted
to race cars.’ And if the whole class starts laughing, then I know that he does GTAs
(grand theft auto). I’ll say, ‘Oh, so you still like that?’ I can pick up
right away why he’s saying that.”
What’s Michelle
doing? Formative research. She asked a few questions of her audience to get a sense of
their background and issues so that she could adapt the curriculum to their needs.
Michelle conducted a very quick interview with each teenager and then used the data
collected to refine and improve her program.