Convention 2013
Over the past 30 years, the world of kiruv has grown from a disjointed constellation of grass-roots operations to an international enterprise spanning five continents. However, our approach to outreach remains antiquated in that it is largely based on hunches and intuition. This presentation will discuss how the methods of social science research can be utilized to (1) inform operational definitions of kiruv outcomes, (2) examine predictors of outreach success, (3) systematically test hypotheses, and (4) perhaps most importantly - design and evaluate new methods of education. Two recent research studies and their implications for kiruv will be discussed. Question and answer time to follow session.