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See a list of all the reviewed projects or all the unreviewed projects.
View the Publications Index to see all publications in the database.
Quick Database Search
For more detailed searching, try the Advanced Database Search.
The Research Forum Website
The Research Forum website has been designed to provide researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with information about research related to welfare and income security, child/family, and community/neighborhood issues.
Some of the most useful features of the website include key topics pages, a searchable research project database, a publications calendar, a glossary, a database updates log, various policy resources, and Research Forum publications. You can use the navigation bar to the left of your screen to access these and other features of the website.
The Research Forum Database
The Research Forum's database was designed to provide researchers,
policymakers, and practitioners with easy access to research projects related to welfare and income security; child/familiy issues; and community/neighborhood issues. The web site includes up-to-date summaries of 75
large scale or multi-site, reviewed research projects and 287
smaller (unreviewed) projects. Through the Project List or the Search feature, web users can find out what
interventions are being tested, where and how they have been tested, what findings are available, and other relevant information.
Creating the Database and Website
In the spring of 1997, Forum staff began to create a database and website that would
include standardized, searchable summaries of welfare evaluations and income security
research--something not done before on the Internet. Staff initially defined a set of
criteria for selecting database projects and then designed a project summary protocol. Staff used this protocol to create
project summaries, which were sent to the principal investigator for approval. To keep
summaries updated, staff added information from new project publications and, every six
months, sent a copy of the summary to the principal investigator for any revisions.
In consultation with Runtime (then called SOHOnet), a database structure was built
and dynamically linked to a website. With dynamic links, information from the database
can appear directly on the website, providing a user-friendly format for accessing and
searching the database.
Major Developments
The web site became publicly available in October 1997. Thirty-five reviewed projects
were entered that fall; the remainder were added on an on-going basis since then.
In the summer of 1998, staff expanded the database and site to include "unreviewed"
projects-- research projects which did not meet the Research Forum's criteria for full review and entry. The 287 unreviewed projects now in the database
have abbreviated summaries and, like reviewed projects, can be searched on various topics.
In late 1999, Forum staff incorporated child and family well-being research
projects into the database. In early 2000, a multi-level search was added, enabling users to search for projects based on multiple categories at the same time.
In the summer of 2000, new key topics pages highlighting research on a number of relevant welfare and child well-being issues were added to the site.
In Spring of 2001, a new domain examining community and neighborhood issues was implemented.
The Research Forum has conducted briefings about the database and web site for
policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in Chicago, New York City, and Washington,
D.C.
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