PSYC 217 Midterm 2 textbook notes Monday, June 12, 2023 Chp 10, 3, 5, 12 Chapter 10 - Program evaluation: Research designed to evaluate programs (e.g., social reforms, innovations) implemented to produce changes or outcomes in a population. · implemented in schools, work settings, or entire communities. - Evaluation of need: Needs assessments involve asking whether there are problems that need to be addressed in a target population. For example, what services do homeless people need most? Do repeat juvenile offenders have particular personal and family problems that could be addressed by an intervention program? · needs assessment may come from surveys, interviews, and existing archival data maintained by public health, criminal justice, and other agencies. - Program theory: After identifying needs, a program can be designed to address them. . The program must be based on valid assumptions about the causes of the problems and a cogent rationale for the best way to address these problems. · Assessing program theory may involve researchers, service providers, and prospective program clients all collaborating to ensure that the program addresses the target population's needs. . Will this program actually reach the target population as intended? Does it have appropriate goals? - Process evaluation, or program monitoring: When the pro-gram is under way, the researcher monitors whether it is reaching the target population, whether it is attracting enough clients, and whether the staff is providing the planned services. - Such research may involve questionnaires and interviews, observational studies, and analysis of records kept by program staff. - Outcome evaluation, or impact assessment: Are the intended outcomes of the program being realized? Is the goal-to increase literacy or to provide job skills, for example-being achieved? 1
Monday, June 12, 2023 . To determine this, the evaluation researcher must devise a way of measuring the outcome and then study the impact of the program on the outcome measure. - Efficiency assessment: Once it is shown that a program does have its intended effect, researchers can determine whether the benefits are worth the program's cost. . Also, the researchers can determine whether the resources used to implement the program might be put to some better use. Is there a better way to carry out the program? - Quasi-experimental designs : A study design that has many features of an experiment, but due to necessity lacks some aspects of a true experimental design (and so cannot support causal inferences). Design Category Design Number of Groups/Conditions Random Assignment to Condition? True experiment Single case Between-subjects Reversal ABA(B) 2+ Yes 1 (more if re- institute treatment, as in ABAB) N/A Number of Participants Many (often 30+ per group) Pretest? Sometimes Posttest? Yes (dependent variable) 1 Yes (A, baseline) 2 Multiple baseline 1 (more if Quasi-experiment One-group posttest-only Developmental One-group pretest-posttest Non-equivalent control group 2+ Non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest Interrupted time series Control series Longitudinal Cross-sectional Sequential multiple settings or behaviours) 1 No No 1 No No 2+ No 1 No 2+ No 1 No 2+ No 2+ No 1