Method and participants
This research project has three work packages to investigate the underlying process of the matching decision-making. First, a scoping literature review is conducted. This literature study will provide the groundwork for further research in the matching field by identifying known research as well as gaps in the literature. The question for the literature review has a wide scope in order to generate breadth of coverage: “What is known about the decision-making process in family foster care matching in the scientific literature?”.
The second work package includes a study on professionals’ perspectives on the matching decision-making process. This work package aims to make sense of the actual process of decision-making when matching a child with a foster family. Through direct consultation with professionals with vignettes and a semi-structured interview, an exploration will be made on the factors driving their matching decisions.
A case file analysis is the third work package and will answer the question “Which relationships can be distinguished between foster child characteristics and characteristics of the foster family to which the child is matched?” The files will first analyzed qualitatively with an open mind to include factors or characteristics that are new to the researchers. After this qualitative analysis we will look at the data in a quantitative way and focus on the interaction between the different factors.| Last modified: | 05 April 2019 11.18 a.m. |