Issues Regarding the Selection of Variables for Study in the Context of the Diversity of Possible Student Outcomes of Service-Learning

Three principal sets of problems with quantitative research on service-learning are addressed in this chapter. Taken together, these problems provide a basis for concluding that, due to the anticipated diversity of possible outcomes of such programs, existing methodologies are relatively insensitive assessment techniques. These sets of problems are: (a) problems associated with the selection of outcome variables for study, (b) problems associated with the selection of research instruments to measure the variables selected, and (c) problems associated with confounding life events that make it difficult to attribute observed impacts to the program under study. An alternative methodological approach using the individual student as the unit of analysis will be proposed as a means to address many of the problems raised here. [author]