Methodological Issues in Conducting Research on the Disadvantaged and Their Implications for Designing and Evaluating Programs for the Disadvantaged

This paper examines three methodological issues relating to research on the disadvantaged. Examination of these issues is important not only for researchers but also for those involved in designing, administering, and evaluating programs for the disadvantaged.

My orientation for this paper comes from two sources. First, I have conducted research in the Chicago area on government programs designed to provide employment for the disadvantaged. In these programs a company received a subsidy to hire, train, and retrain the so··called hard-core. Second, I have been involved in a literature review of studies concerned with psychological and sociological factors which affect the recruitment, hiring, and training of the disadvantaged. Although I have not been involved in sheltered workshop programs, many of the basic issues involved in the areas with which I dealt should be generalizable to the sheltered workshop situation.