Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Grant Recipient Feedback Survey on Use of Research and Evaluation Products

Survey for Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) Grant Recipients

Background & Instructions: Through this survey, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is gathering information to understand how Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grant recipients access, engage with, and use research findings and publications to inform their work. This survey is targeted to grant recipient staff across a variety of roles, including leadership, research staff, and other programmatic staff. The survey may be completed by more than one person from each grant recipient organization; responses are encouraged from any grant recipient staff that are willing or interested in offering input on research use. Survey completion is voluntary and anonymous, and all answers will be used only for ACF internal planning purposes. The survey is designed to take no longer than 15 minutes.

Background

1. What kind of organization do you work for?

   1. State human service or workforce organization

   2. Local human service or workforce organization

   3. Community-based organization

   4. Public school

   5. University or community college

   6. Other [please specify]

2. Please specify the program area/grant type [Select all that apply.]:

   1. Responsible Fatherhood (Fatherhood FIRE)

   2. Healthy Marriage/Relationship Education (FRAMEWorks)

   3. Youth Relationship Education (READY4Life)

3. Please specify your organizational role.

1. Program Director

2. Program Manager

3. Research Staff

4. Evaluator

5. Program Staff (case manager, recruitment staff, trainer/facilitator, etc.)

6. Other [please specify]

4. Are you involved in the design, implementation, or continuous improvement of programs or policies?

   1. Yes

   2. No

5. What types of information do you utilize to make decisions on programs or policies?

   1. Program data

   2. Anecdotal feedback (from staff, participants, etc.)

   3. Satisfaction surveys

   4. Research products (briefs, tip sheets)

   5. Webinars (held by OFA or OPRE)

   6. Conferences

   7. Other [please specify].

Research Understanding and Interests

For the purposes of this survey, we are defining research as: A systematic investigation and collection of information to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Research use is defined as: The ability of grant recipients/practitioners, and others in the HMRF space, to access, understand, apply, and/or take action from research and evidence in their programs.

Research products are the materials that are developed through research efforts and disseminated, such as reports, issue briefs, and webinars.

6. When making decisions for Healthy Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programs, what areas have you sought research information or research products on as part of your job? [Select all that apply.]

   1. Program design

   2. Program implementation

   3. Program improvement or change

   4. Curriculum

   5. Grant or funding applications

   6. Hiring third party evaluators

   7. Not applicable – I do not access research as part of my job.

   8. Other [please specify]

7. When making decisions for Healthy Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programs, what are the priority topic areas where you have sought research products in the past? [Please select your top 3 priority areas.]

   1. Parenting

   2. Co-Parenting

   3. Relationship Education

   4. Fatherhood

   5. Financial Literacy/Management

   6. Employment and Training

   7. Economic Stability

   8. Youth

   9. Evaluation

   10. Other [please specify]

Evidence Use and Needs

8. When making decisions for Healthy Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programs, what sources have you used? (Select all that apply.)

   1. Google and other search engines

   2. Clearinghouses

   3. Social media

   4. Academic journals

   5. Federal websites

   6. Other [please specify]

9. Please complete the following prompts based on your past experiences accessing research and applying it to your decisions on Health Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programming.

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	N/A
I find research to be valuable to inform the work in my role.
I can find what I need when I need research as part of my role.
I use search engines to find research related to specific questions/topics I am interested in.
I browse research from organizations that I trust.
I encounter research through professional networks, social media, newsletters, etc.
I receive research from the Federal HMRF evaluation team (OPRE, Mathematica).
I receive research from the Federal HMRF technical assistance (TA) team (OFA, Public Strategies, Manhattan Strategy Group).
I understand the research articles that come across my desk.
I have an understanding of research methodologies.
I can apply research to improve my program.
My organization’s leadership is committed to a research to practice approach.

10. What are challenges have you have faced when accessing and using research to inform decisions on Healthy Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programming? (Select all that apply.)

    1. Finding research in general

    2. Finding research that is relevant to my program context

    3. Understanding research methods

    4. Applying research to my program

    5. Operational barriers to using research (time, leadership buy-in, etc.)

    6. Other [please specify]

Research to Practice Modalities: Adult Learning Preferences and Product Types

11. When making decisions to inform decisions on Healthy Marriage and/or Responsible Fatherhood programming, what types of research products have you accessed? [Select all that apply.]

    1. Syntheses (i.e., products that combine and compare multiple studies on a given topic)

    2. Issue Briefs (i.e., a brief document that describes an issue and provides recommended action steps)

    3. Infographics (i.e., products that focus on presenting information/data in a visual format with icons/graphics/data visualizations)

    4. Webinars (i.e., presentations and/or seminar-based virtual meetings with options for direct engagement with participants and speakers)

    5. Research reports (i.e., publicly available publication that outlines the processes, data sources, findings, and suggested recommendations from a research project)

    6. Journal articles (i.e., documents in an academic or professional journal that report on original research or analyses)

    7. Other [please specify]

12. Are you familiar with ACF’s Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE)?

    1. Yes

    2. No

13. If yes, have you ever read or utilized OPRE research product(s) (e.g., briefs, toolkits, videos, webinars, etc.)?

    1. Yes

    2. No

    3. Unsure

SKIP LOGIC:

If yes, continue to #14

If No or Unsure, continue to #17

14. Please complete the following prompts as they relate to information that is published by OPRE.

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	N/A
How often do you review OPRE’s HMRF research products/webpage?
How often does research from OPRE provide information useful for your program?
How often do you recommend research from OPRE to your colleagues within HMRF programs?

15. In the last year, OPRE provided research products and webinars focused on HMRF programming (e.g., SIRF, SIMR, and STREAMS research). Complete the table below to indicate whether you accessed any of these offerings.

	Accessed offering	Did not access	Unsure
Technical Report
Webinar
Research-to-Practice Brief
Tip Sheet

16. If you accessed any of the offerings above, please rate the level of helpfulness.

	Not helpful	Helpful	Very helpful	Not applicable
Technical Report
Webinar
Research-to-Practice Brief
Tip Sheet

17. If you have accessed any of the offerings above, please explain your rating(s).

OPRE Product Feedback

We are interested in learning your feedback on some OPRE products. Please skim the resources linked below and rate the usefulness/accessibility of OPRE publication formats (e.g., briefs, tip sheets, reports)?

NOTE: Each respondent will be asked to review 2-3 products from the list below. Only a subset of the products below will be included in the survey.

• Research Report

• Research to Practice Guide

• Research Findings Brief

• Infographic

• Blog Post

• Animated Video

• Practitioner Tool or Tip Sheet

• Data Story

18. Please access and skim the linked research product and rate the usefulness/accessibility of the resource (as Very, Somewhat, or Not Accessible, Understandable, or Useful). 

Research report: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/integrating-healthy-marriage-and-relationship-education-employment-training-program 

	Very	Somewhat	Not
Accessible
Understandable
Useful to my program

19. Please provide any specific feedback on the product you reviewed above in the space below. [open ended]

20. Please access and skim the linked research product and rate the usefulness/accessibility of the resource (as Very, Somewhat, or Not Accessible, Understandable, or Useful). 

Research to Practice Guide: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/building-staff-co-regulation-support-healthy-relationships-youth-guide-practitioners

	Very	Somewhat	Not
Accessible
Understandable
Useful to my program

21. Please provide any specific feedback on the product you reviewed above in the space below. [open ended]

22. Were you familiar with any of the products listed above before reviewing them for this survey?

    1. Yes

    2. No

    3. I am not sure/do not recall.

23. If yes, with which specific products were you familiar?

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

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