Housing Counseling Process Evaluation and Design of ... - HUD User

interview guides were created for organizations that received HUD funding through the Housing
Counseling Program in FY 2007 and organizations that did not.) The in-person interviews generally
took one to two hours and telephone interviews took 45 minutes to an hour.
Prior to conducting the interviews, interviewers reviewed available documents and statistics on the
respondent organization and its activities to glean as much as background information as possible.
These sources included grant applications submitted to HUD, information available through
organization’s web site, 9902 data submitted to HUD, and any other reports provided by the
respondent beforehand.
Following the interviews, the interviewers wrote up the discussion of each question in the interview
guides, including direct quotations from the respondent whenever possible. The interview write-ups
were then coded and analyzed using a qualitative research software package known as NVivo.
NVivo allowed us to import all of the interview write-ups into a central database and then code the
interviews by research question or topic. Exhibit A-2 provides a list of topics coded. Copies of the
complete interview guides are available upon request.
Once the interview write-ups were coded, we were able to generate reports on individual research
topics or combinations of topics across all the interviews. We were also able to assign interviews to
groupings (e.g., organizations that receive HUD Housing Counseling funds, organizations that
provide counseling directly, organizations that fund affiliates to provide counseling, etc.) that allowed
us to look for patterns and themes across different types of organizations.
Exhibit A-2.
Interview Topics Coded Using NVivo
Mission and rationale for providing counseling
Geography served
Who provides counseling
Types of counseling provided
How long organization has received HUD funding
Number of affiliates
Characteristics of affiliates
Process for becoming an affiliate
Support provided to affiliates
Organizational partnerships
Sources of funding for the organization
Funding provided by organization to affiliates
Other sources of funding used by affiliates
Changes over time in organization’s HUD funding
Experiences applying for HUD funds
Other entities that should be funding counseling
Effective and ineffective counseling methods
Required counseling methods
Use of technology by affiliates
Views on the use of technology
Views on the need for more follow-up
Data collected by affiliates
Efforts to measure counseling impact
Required qualifications for counselors
How counseling by affiliates is monitored
Need for national counseling standards
Role for HUD in setting counseling standards
Views on HUD’s certification program
Views on HUD’s counseling program
Recent industry developments
Capacity of local affiliates to meet demand
Current challenges facing industry
Willingness to participate in an impact study
Views on appropriate focus of an impact study
Appendix A. Interviews with Intermediaries and State Housing Finance Agencies 165