Methods
The CBCRP contracted with the consulting firm Marj Plumb and Associates to conduct a process evaluation of the CRC Awards. The main goal was to gather practical information that the staff and Council of the CBCRP could use to improve the program.
We sent letters announcing the evaluation were sent to 31 current and past recipients of the CRC award as well as to 25 applicants who did not receive funding. The letters described the purpose and method of the study, and also encouraged participation. We conducted a total of 17 telephone interviews, 15 with current or past award recipients, representing nine projects. We also conducted two interviews with researchers who had unsuccessfully applied for funding. We developed the 11 open-ended interview questions in consultation with CBCRP staff. When necessary, we clarified questions and asked further probing questions to explore a participant's responses. The interviews lasted 45-60 minutes each during which time we took detailed notes. To provide additional context and insight into the telephone interviews, we collected secondary data by reviewing all of the grant applications and progress reports from the nine funded grant proposals associated with the 15 respondents who had received CRC Awards. After conducting the interviews, we compiled the notes, identified salient themes, and pulled descriptive quotes.
One limitation of this evaluation is the small number of respondents who had unsuccessfully applied for funding. Time constraints limited the number of these interviews.
