UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Program Development & Evaluation
432 N. Lake St., Room 617
Madison, WI 53706
TO: University of Wisconsin-Cooperative Extension County Agents, State Specialists and Other Users of the Wisconsin 4-H Club Officer Instruments
FROM: Heather Boyd
DATE: May 31, 2001
RE: Wisconsin 4-H Club Officer Study Evaluation Effort 2001
This packet of information supplies you with materials that support one approach for evaluating the 4-H club officer experience in your county. I would like to encourage you to use these materials in your work, if it is appropriate for you to do so.
This packet of material for you is available in a Micro Soft Word format. If your office does not have Micro Soft Word and you need these materials to be in another format, please contact me at (608) 263-0857 or and the Program Development and Evaluation Unit will work to accommodate your needs.
Please note that this document has half-inch margins, a half-inch header and a half-inch footer.
If you change the margin settings, the questionnaires will lose their formatting. If you have problems with this feature, select the document, go to FILE, then PAGE SETUP and then MARGINS. Make sure that all the margins are at 0.5 inch.
History of this Evaluation Effort
In May of 2001, Greg Hutchins, Linda Kustka and I initiated a survey of 4-H club officers and their parents or guardians. We were interested in building on the work of Wisconsin agents and specialists in the area of youth and civic leadership. Specifically, this evaluation effort was focused on learning about youth leadership development and the club officer experience.
We wanted to ask the club officer about his or her experience and we also wanted to ask someone close to the club officer about the officer’s experience. Thus, we included an element of the evaluation that asks the officer’s parent or guardian for his or her attitudes.
The methodology we chose was a stratified random sample. Using a computer program, we selected three counties from each district and asked 4HYD agents of those counties to participate in the study. For those agents who were willing to participate, we requested a list of club names from their county. From that list of club names, we selected three clubs at random (using the same computer program) and asked agents to send questionnaire packets to the club officers of the three clubs in their county.
You may or may not decide to use a similar methodology. What is important is for you to keep track of the decisions you make so that you will be able to describe how you got the results you got. If you would like to discuss how to go about choosing a method that is appropriate for your situation and you are employed by University of Wisconsin-Cooperative Extension, please feel free to contact me.
Relevant Parts of this Document for Your Evaluation Effort
ITEM A: An example of a version of the letter sent to participating agents.
Agents were given 15 packets and were asked to send one packet to each club officer.
Each questionnaire packet that you send should include:
1) An informed consent letter (ITEM B)
2) A consent form to be signed by both the officer and the parent/guardian (ITEM C)
3) A questionnaire for the club officer (ITEM D)
4) A questionnaire for the parent or guardian (ITEM E)
5) An envelope (preferably stamped and addressed) for respondents to return their information to you
ITEM B: The informed consent letter sent to club officers and their parents/guardians.
Adapt it for your own use by replacing the information in red italics with your county-appropriate and evaluation-appropriate information.
UW-Extension is currently examining different policies and procedures for involving youth as subjects of evaluation and research. For this reason, we take a cautious approach and ask each club officer to consent to participation in the study and one parent/guardian of each club officer to consent to their child’s participation, regardless of the age of the club officer.
When you receive the signed and dated consent letters back, separate them from the questionnaires and store them in a file, drawer or office that is not where you store the questionnaires. The purpose of having the consent form is to have documentation that the participants were informed of their rights and agreed to participate.
ITEM C: Consent form to be signed and returned with questionnaires
ITEM D: Club officer questionnaire
ITEM E: Parent/Guardian questionnaire
Remember to:
Adapt the instruments to what is appropriate for your study.
Include a due date on the informed consent letter.
Include your contact information on the informed consent letter.
Store the signed consent forms separately from the questionnaires to protect respondent privacy.
Let me know what you learn from your evaluation effort. I am interested in hearing how these instruments did or did not work for you. Also, if the questionnaires elicit interesting, useful answers to PART B – the question about the 4-H pledge and the Pledge of Allegiance, please share these answers via e-mail with Greg Hutchins.
Good luck!
ITEM A: EXAMPLE OF LETTER SENT TO PARTICIPATING AGENTS
April 30, 2001
Thank you very much for helping us to collect information for the Wisconsin 4-H Club Officer Survey.
Enclosed is your own copy of the questionnaire packet that club officers and their parents/guardians will receive. This packet is for your information. If anyone contacts you regarding this survey, these materials should help you to answer their questions. However, if their questions are more extensive and/or you do not feel comfortable answering them, feel free to refer them to Heather Boyd at (608) 263-0857. Heather is an Evaluation Specialist who is working with us on this project.
Also enclosed in this packet are 15 stamped and sealed envelopes. Please address an envelope to each officer in each of the three following clubs in your county:
INSERT CLUB NAMES HERE
Then, put the addressed envelopes in the mail. If you mail these packets as soon as you are able, club officers and their parents/guardians will have ample time to return them to us by June 15, 2001, the date we have requested.
Please also record how many club officers you sent a packet to for each club and send that information, broken down by club name, to Heather Boyd ( or 608 263-0857). Knowing how many questionnaire packets were sent will help us know how many we might expect back. It will also help us calculate the response rate to the survey.
The three clubs listed above were selected at random using a computer program. For the results of our survey to be as useful as possible, it is important that the questionnaire materials be sent to the officers of these three clubs and that you not substitute any other officers or any other clubs in your county.
Once questionnaires are returned to us and we compile them at the state level, we will return information to you about club officer leadership in your county. No club officers or their parents/guardians will be identified by name in our report to you, so you can assure anyone who is concerned that their information will remain confidential.
If you think that adult volunteers of the clubs selected would want to know about this study, please photocopy the letter from Greg Hutchins from your sample packet and send a copy of the letter to each person’s home address. Again, if they have questions about the study, they are free to contact Heather Boyd at (608) 263-0857.
Thank you very much for your willingness to help us learn more about the Wisconsin 4-H Club Officer leadership experience!
ITEM B: INFORMED CONSENT LETTER
DATE
Dear 4-H Club Officer and Parent or Guardian:
The Wisconsin 4-H Program Staff at Cooperative Extension is interested in learning about the experiences of Wisconsin 4-H club officers. We are asking current club officers to answer a questionnaire and to have one of their parents or their guardian answer a similar questionnaire.
Then, we are asking that the questionnaires and signed consent form be insert due date and local contact person name and number here.
In order to conform to requirements for surveying you and your child, we must make the following information clear:
Your participation and the participation of your child is voluntary.
You or your child may choose to not participate in this study.
Your answers will remain confidential and anonymous.
Once we use an identification number to connect each club officer’s questionnaire with the questionnaire of his or her parent or guardian, we will keep your consent form separate from your questionnaire. When we report the results of the study, we will not use your name. We will not pass the information that you provide to us on to any other person or organization or write the findings of the study in any way that would identify you as an individual.
If you have questions about this project, you may contact fill in local contact person’s name, number and address here. Explain the contact person’s relationship to the study here. Seriously consider having a contact person who is not connected to 4-H in your county; an unaffiliated person may receive more candid answers.
There are no “right” or “wrong” answers. Give the answer that best fits your thinking and feeling.
Please complete the questionnaire independently of each other. It is okay for a parent or guardian to tell the officer what a word means, but let the officer give his or her own answer.
If you are willing to participate, please sign the attached consent letter and return it with your questionnaires.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Your name
Your position title
ITEM C: CLUB OFFICER AND PARENT/GUARDIAN CONSENT FORM
CONSENT FORM
Wisconsin 4-H Club Officer Study
Please sign, date and return by DATE to INSERT CONTACT INFORMATION with your completed questionnaires.
I have read my rights as a study participant and consent to participating in the study described.
(Signature of 4-H Club Officer) (Date signed)
I have read my child’s rights as a study participant and consent to my child participating in the study described.
(Signature of Parent or Guardian) (Date signed)
ITEM D: CLUB OFFICER SURVEY
4-H Club Officer Survey – Club Officer
We are interested in your experience as a 4-H club officer. Please answer the following questions and return your completed form, your parent or guardian’s completed form and your signed and dated consent form in the enclosed, self-addressed, stamped envelope INSERT DATE. Your answers will remain confidential. If you have questions about this survey, please contact INSERT YOUR LOCAL CONTACT INFORMATION.
PART A -- Please tell us about your experience as a 4-H club officer.
Please read each statement below and circle a number 1 through 5 where 1 = “Strongly Disagree” and 5 = “Strongly Agree.” If the question does not apply to you, please circle “N/A” for “Not Applicable.” Please answer the following questions specifically related to your experience in 4-H.
Strongly Strongly
Since I became a 4-H club officer, Disagree Agree N/A
1. I feel more responsible for the success of my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
2. I listen better to members of my 4-H club who have different 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
points of view than mine.
3. I cooperate better with adults in my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
4. I cooperate better with youth members of my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
5. I am more comfortable speaking in front of my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
6. I am better at organizing activities & events for my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
7. I know the duties & responsibilities of my 4-H office. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
8. I am better at helping my 4-H club members make group 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
decisions.
9. I have more fun at 4-H club meetings. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
10. My friendships in my 4-H club have improved. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
11. I am more dedicated to my 4-H club. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
12. I am more dedicated to my community. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
PART B -- Please answer the following question. If you would like, continue your answer on another sheet of paper and attach that sheet when you finish the questionnaire.
In your own words, what does it mean to you to say the 4-H Pledge and Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of your club meetings?
please continue to page 2
Club Officer-page 2
PART C -- Please tell us about your 4-H club. Strongly Strongly
Disagree Agree N/A
1. Most members participate in discussion during club 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
meetings.
2. The adult volunteers and youth members of our club 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
work well together.
3. Club members think that our meetings are interesting. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
4. Club members think that our club activities are interesting. 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
5. Our 4-H club helps make our community a better 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
place to live.
PART D – Demographic and Other Information.
1. Your County ______2. Today’s Date ______
3. Name of your club ______
4. Place a check next to what position you were elected to this year:
___ president ___ treasurer