The Early Head Start Father Studies: Design, data collection, and summary of father presence in the lives of infants and toddlers

In this introductory article to the Special Issue, we provide an overview of the research and policy context for the Early Head Start Father Studies. We describe the methods used to conduct the father studies, which began in 1997 and were designed to complement the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a random assignment evaluation of 3,001 families - half who received Early Head Start services and half who did not. The Early Head Start Father Studies included in the Special Issue addressed 5 key research questions about low-income fathers and their children (all under 3 years old) using a variety of data collection approaches, including mother report, father report, father - child videotaped interactions, and Early Head Start program staff report. Here we describe the father studies' methods and response rates, father demographics, and father - child relationship status.