A Framework for Interpreting
and APPLYING Mentoring Research

1. The Basics

What programs (or types of programs) are being studied or researched in this article/report?

What questions are being asked in this research?

Is this research focused on… (choose all that apply)

Program or relationship outcomes?

Program implementation and practices?

Mentoring relationship characteristics or strategies?

Policy- or funder-related goals?

If the research is descriptive, what methods were used?

If the research is outcome focused, was there a control or comparison group?

Who conducted the research?

  • Have they published other research on mentoring or related fields?
  • Was this research peer reviewed?

How recent is this research?

2. Inquiry and Understanding

What are the main takeaways or findings from this research?

How strong were these findings (statistical significance, effect size, compared to similar research, etc.)?

Were there nuances or variations to these findings based on…

  • Participant demographics (age, gender, race, socio-economic status, etc.)?
  • Program delivery or implementation?
  • Other circumstances?

Were there any caveats or uncertainties around the findings?

  • Inconclusive results?
  • Missing data or analysis?
  • Methodological problems?
  • Unclear causation or correlation?
  • Other potential influences that the authors left unaddressed?

What questions do I have about this research?

  • What do I want to know more about?
  • What made no sense to me?

Did this research spark my curiosity about this topic? Will I seek out similar research?

3. Compatibility and Utility

How similar are the programs in this research to my own? Think in terms of…

Age range of mentees

Other demographic similarities to our youth

Program setting (both program space/setting and general geographic similarity)

Program model and general services

Program goals/theory of change

Mentoring relationships and activities

Scale/resources

How do these similarities or differences color my perceptions of these findings?

  • Do they become more or less useful to me?
  • Would additional/different research provide more context?

What findings or information in this article/report might be valuable to our mentoring program?

  • What is my rationale for this? Why do I think it might be helpful?

Do we need more information to apply this to our work?

  • Do we have questions about the findings?
  • Do we need more information about how the programs in the study implemented their services to produce these results?
  • Is other applicable research mentioned in the text, references, or bibliography?
  • Do we need more information or data about our own program to know if this is applicable to us?

Who should I discuss this research with? Who can help me think this through?

If we made a change based on this research, what might it look like in practice?

If we made a change based on this research, how would we define success? How would we know it was the right decision?

Framework developed by Michael Garringer, MENTOR