We are deeply saddened by the passing of Prof. Sydney Duder on March 18, 2025, at the remarkable age of 103. Prof. Duder was a long-standing and valued contributor to the CRCF, and a passionate advocate for research-practice collaboration—particularly in initiatives aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of social services, programs, and interventions. Known for her sharp intellect and critical mind, she will be remembered as a true pioneer in the field and an inspiration to many.
Dr. Duder had taught MSW research courses on program evaluation and quantitative methods for quite a few years, and really enjoyed working with students on tutorials or research projects – she had supervised so many research papers and theses over the years that she had completely lost count! She enjoyed playing with new ideas and methods; for example, she used a Delphi procedure for her MSW research, and designed a simulation game to evaluate a negative income tax for her PhD thesis. In courses and research projects, she used Q-sorts, meta-analyses, tree diagrams and concept mapping. She had worked with colleagues on many projects, including studies of permanency planning, parent finding and the effect of agency funding formulas on adoption practice, as well as predictors of hospital length of stay, using the Person-in-Environment (PIE) system to measure the severity of psychosocial problems. She regularly attended journal watch meetings at the CRCF, and had written many article reviews for the Research Watch archives.
Dr. Duder believed that good research and program evaluation could be very effective strategies in dealing with worrisome political and social problems.
Her research interests included:
Program evaluation, including cost-benefit analysis, to find ways of preventing social problems, and of increasing social justice by diverting resources to the disadvantaged.