LSW 5

evaluates the extent to which goals and objectives have been achieved and the extent to which identified effects of the program can be generalized to other populations and settings

evaluates a program from the planning stages through implementation

compares the cost of program with the identified benefits

compares the cost of a program to the program output (cost per unit)

attempts to determine the extent to which an intervention or program has been successful in achieveing its goals and objectives and/or is cost effective

• (formulative research)
• designed to provide preliminaty dataon issues and provides a basis for later, more in depth research

involves an in depth study of a single case

• (survey research)
• designed to provide a description of an area of concern or interest and may lead to the formulation of research questions that can be addressed in future studies

research that attempts to develop an accurate reconstruction of the past. a historic perpective is used to interpret and organize data obtained in the course of research

seeks to identify the extent to which changes in one variable are associated with changes in another variable or variables using correlation coefficients

• (causal comparative)
• involves searching through data in an attempt to identify possible causal factors of observed consequences

involves the exposure of one or more experimental groups to one or more treatment interventions and the comparison of results to those obtained from one or more control groups in an effort to identify possible cause and effect relationships. Experimental research is a type of explanatory research design

one in which the researcher attempts to approimate the conditions of experimental research in a setting in which he or she is unable to control and or manipulate all relevant variables

• a type of evaluation measurement done on a single case to determine the effectiveness of interventions
• AB: baseline, intervention
• ABAB:Baseline, intervention, withdrawl, baseline, intervention

designed to find solutions or to develop new approaches to solving problems typically in an agency or other practice setting

a symmetrical distribution consisting of a higher point in the middle and equal tails on either side. approximately 68% of the scores in the distribution lie within one standard deviation of the mean, and 95% fall within 2 standard deviations, much in nature is distributed in this manner

occurs when the distribution of some variable is asymmetrical

the standard deviation squared

the probability that a difference in scores could have resulted from sampling error alone

• D:summarize a set of observations
• I:allow the researcher to make inferences about a population from data obtained from a sample of that population

• a statistic that reflects the degree to which two variables are associated or co-vary (from +1 to -1)
• a positive number indicates a positive correlation, negative indicates negative
• the closer the r value is the 1.00 (positive or negative) the stronger the correlation (.90 is strong, .50 is weak)

the amount of confidence we can have that the findings of a study are appliable to the larger population from which the study sample was drawn

the amount of confidence we can have that variations in a dependant variable can be explained by the variations in the independent variable

subject who behave differently than they normally do because they are aware they are being observed for research purposes

when the experimental and control group were not comparable from the beginning

the item that is thought to influence or cause a behavior or outcome (the intervention)

the outcome or behavior thought to be caused or influenced by the I.V.

a systemativ distortion of a sample, affects the extent to which a sample is representative of the population from which it was drawn

the normal differences that exist between a population and sample

the consistency in the measurement of a variable, the extent to which repeated administrations of an instrument with the same sample would yeild the same results

the extent to which and instrument being used measures what it intends to measure

the precision wih which a variable is measured and dependent on the nature of the variable and on the method of measurement

a level of measurement involving categories that are distinguished only by name (male, female)

a level of measurement that relects each person's position or rank with respect to a characteristic, absolute differences cannot be ascertained (1-satisfied, 2- disatisfied)

a level of measurement that involves ranking, intervals are equal between rankings (degrees on a thermometer)

an interval scale with a true zero point (age, height, weight)

predicts that there will be no relationship between two or more variables

a method for assigning subjects to an experimental and control group where every individual has an equal change of being assigned to either unit

research designs that are nomothetic (based on norms of groups of participants), these designs use randomization procedures to assign participants to experimental or control groups and involve testing for the average response of participants to an intervention

research designs that are ideographic (they focus on individuals) and study participants are used as their own control

created by the client and socil worker to measure progress in achieving treatment objectives

ourcome research conducted in a natural setting (testing a therapy intervention in a mental health agency)

outcome research conducted in an artificial setting

can occur when evaluating someone too positively or too negatively because of the presence of one or a few characteristics