The purpose of CSYS (Cabot, 1940) was both to prevent juvenile delinquency among

The purpose of CSYS (Cabot, 1940) was both to prevent juvenile delinquency among boys as well as to study the effectiveness of juvenile delinquency interventions. It is revisited here to illustrate how ideology relates to design, role, and methods. While it is impossible to truly know what Cabot’s ideology was with regard to evaluation, we can surmise from descriptions of the study where his beliefs might fall along each calibrator continuum.
With regard to the design calibrators, the design indicates he favored the medical model of research design, and it does not appear that findings were used for program improvement. With regard to role calibrators, the evaluators were external and do not appear to have had much involvement with the program beyond data collection. There is no evidence that CSYS was a capacity-building evaluation. With regard to methods calibrators, while some qualitative methods may have been used, the predominant methods appear to have been quantitative and focused on the objectives of the CSYS.
Imagine that the CSYS evaluators had a different ideology. Consider each scenario below, select one, and identify ways that the change may have affected the findings from the study.
Suppose the evaluators chose to forgo a control group and included all youth in the program.
Suppose findings were used throughout the program to improve services for the children involved.
Suppose the evaluator was someone internal to the program.
Suppose the evaluators worked closely with stakeholders throughout the program, building processes for them to collect and analyze their own data.
Suppose the youth were observed and data were collected from these observations, instead of from instruments designed to measure behavior.
Suppose the evaluators did not use the stated objectives of the program to drive the study, but instead examined any potential outcome of the program.