James B. Hyman, Ph.D.

Policy and Program Research

U.S. Capitol Building

The firm, James B. Hyman, Ph.D., Inc. specializes in directed policy and program research. We conduct research that is specifically aimed at problem solving - at garnering answers to specific questions and /or addressing particular issues that undermine and impede the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies. Our approach to these issues and questions attempt to drill down to basic understandings - clarify underlying principles and assumptions, recurring themes and practices, and/or common experiences and lessons.

Examples include:

  • In 1996, the firm began research to synthesize the numerous theories and models that permeated the youth development field. Spheres of Influence, (1999), traces the history of youth work; explores its underlying tenets; and synthesizes the various youth development theories into a single conceptual framework.

  • In 2000, we begin explorations into community building - community-based initiatives that empower residents to become their own advocates and agents of neighborhood change - to discern whether there were common themes, issues and/or activities that would lend themselves to an underlying, unifying theory. Not Quite Chaos, (2002), proposes a framework that identifies five processes that commonly comprise community-building efforts. Our research overlays the framework on the actual efforts being conducted in Denver, Co in 2000 and 2001, and validates the framework in the using testimony from the Denver community.

  • In 2001, the Annie E. Casey Foundation asked the firm to explore how the status, condition and behaviors of poor, black males might influence the health and well-being of their children, families and neighborhoods. Men and Communities, (2006) - a report published by the Dellums Commission on Minority Males - proposes a framework that depicts the development of minority men and the consequent impacts on families and communities.

  • In 2008, the Corporation for National and Community Service engaged the firm to help it better understand the relatively low levels of participation of poor persons and persons of color in its programs and other programs of organized service. Civic Engagement and the Disadvantaged: Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations, (2008), suggests that a complex picture of definitional issues, barriers to organized service, and under-appreciation for civic engagement activity in poor communities contribute to an erroneous conclusion that poor and disadvantaged persons are less engaged.