The formula boolean field returns a value of
"
" instead of true/false or 1/0.
I want it to display the checkbox visually on the pages but I want to use the value of t/f in other areas. (like other formulas, scripts, etc)
It returns JavaScript boolean value: true or false. However for HTML presentation boolean value is converted into checkbox image.
Try this (for return type String):
{!check_me#value} ? "YES" : "NO"