Exam 5- Ch. 13-14

Which of the following statements is/are true about carrying out experiments and quasi-experiments in social agencies​

All of these- The intervention being tested might not be implemented in the intended fashion, ​The control condition might be contaminated by interaction between clients in the experimental and control groups, ​Practitioners might violate the research protocol for case assignment to make sure that clients receive the intervention being evaluated, Reluctance by outside agencies to refer clients might hinder obtaining a sufficient sample size.

Which of the following designs can be used in program evaluation?

All of these- To assess program success, ​To assess problems in program implementation, ​To obtain information needed in program planning.

​In single-case experiments, maximizing the number of measurement points helps by

All of these- enhancing the identification of precipitating conditions during assessment, ​enabling us to change the intervention plan at the point at which we see that no progress is occurring, Incorrect Response ​increasing our ability to pinpoint unlikely coincidences and therefore infer what is causing changes in the dependent variable.

Which of the following procedures for dealing with an unstable baseline might be appropriate in some situations?

All of these- ​Introduce intervention anyway, recognizing that a stable baseline is not feasible, ​Delay intervention until the baseline becomes stable.

Which of the following statements is/are true about problems in client recruitment and retention in experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations in social work agencies?

All of these- ​Referring agencies might dump clients that they don't want to serve, ​Referring agencies might be reluctant to refer any clients, ​Referring agencies might resent having their referrals assigned to a control condition, ​Clients may resent the use of randomized procedures to determine which service they receive, ​Agency estimates of the number of likely referrals may be overly optimistic.

Which of the following statements is/are true about logic models in program evaluation?​

All of these- ​They graphically depict the essential components of s program, ​They might be required by funding sources, ​They can be constructed in various ways.

The length of the baseline in single-case designs should be

All of these- ​as long as is practically and ethically possible, longer with a low frequency behavior than with a high frequency behavior, ​extended until a stable trend appears.

Target problems can be quantified in terms of their

All of these- ​frequency, ​duration, ​magnitude.

In-house evaluators, as compared to external evaluators, are likely to have

All of these- ​greater access to program information and personnel, ​more knowledge about program processes, ​less independence from agency administrators.

​In deciding what to measure in a single-case experiment, it is usually best to

All of these- ​pick something implied by how the clinical goal was operationally defined, ​measure more than one thing, ​choose a behavior that is more frequent over one that occurs very rarely.

​Suppose you obtained the following results in an ABAB design assessing the effectiveness of family therapy in reducing a child's temper tantrums. Which interpretation(s) is(are) plausible? Number of tantrums per day:​ A: 4 5 4 5 4 4 B: 1 1 1 0 0 0 A2: 0 0 0 0 0 0 B2: 0 0 0 0 0 0

History could have caused the change or the intervention may have been effective, but with irreversible effects.

​Suppose you obtained the following results in a multiple baseline design assessing the impact of family therapy on tantrums, chores, and truancy in treating one child and his parents. Which interpretation(s) is(are) plausible? ​ Number of tantrums: Al: 4 4 4 B1: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Number of chores performed: A2: 0 0 0 3 3 B2: 3 3 3 3 3 3 Number of days truant: A3: 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 B3: 0 0 0 0

History could have caused the change or the intervention may have been effective, with generalizable effects.

Which of the following statements is true about the history of program evaluation?​

It became widespread during the late 1950s.

Which of the following statements is NOT true about program evaluation?​

It differs dramatically from most of the research done by social workers.

To avoid or alleviate practical pitfalls when carrying out experiments in social work agencies, researchers should:​

None of these- Exclude agency staff members from the research planning phase, ​Keep research staff members away from program staff during the study, ​Avoid developing or using treatment manuals for the experimental or control conditions, ​Refrain from recruiting clients on an ongoing basis throughout the study.

A practitioner tests whether a new technique will be effective in reducing the number of time-outs required in play therapy sessions for children with conduct disorders. In each of the two sessions before implementing the new technique, five time-outs occurred. In each of the two sessions after implementing the new technique, no time-outs occurred. The practitioner should conclude:

None of these- The technique clearly was effective, ​History can be ruled out as an alternative explanation for the improvement, ​There were a sufficient number of data points in the study.

​Which of the following is an example of unobtrusive observation?

None of these- ​Self-monitoring, ​Self-report scales, Interviews.

​Agency administrators who ask in-house program evaluators to assess their program's effectiveness are likely to

None of these- ​promote an atmosphere in which the paramount priority is on free, scientific inquiry, give the evaluator complete autonomy in designing the research and interpreting its findings, ​desire a study that is methodologically as rigorous as possible.

​Suppose you wish to measure progress in increasing the amount of time a child in institutional care spends studying as an indicator of the effectiveness of your group-work intervention. Which of the following approaches most likely would be least vulnerable to reactivity problems?

​Have cottage parents run spot checks in the cottage at different intervals.

Which of the following statements is NOT true about the utilization of program evaluation results?​

​If the results are clear and have obvious policy implications, they will always be used.

What would you infer from the following graph of the number of temper tantrums in an AB design? Baseline: 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 Intervention: 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6

​Maturation appears to be the most plausible explanation.

Which of the following approaches would be least obtrusive in regard to measuring the impact of the above group-work intervention on school performance?

​Obtain grade, attendance, and conduct data from school records.

Suppose an ABCD design obtains the following results regarding level of social adjustment with a chronically mentally ill client discharged to live with his family. A (Baseline): 10 10 10 10 10 B (Social skills training): 10 10 10 10 10 C (Occupational Rehabilitation): 10 10 10 10 10 D (Family education): 15 20 25 30 35 What is the most appropriate inference for future interventions with similar clients?

​Replicate the study to assess possible order effects.

Which of the following statements is true about pilot studies in program evaluation?​

​They can detect problems in carrying out the main study as intended.

In order to foster the eventual utilization of an evaluation, one of the steps evaluators should take is​

​involve stakeholders throughout all phases of the evaluation.

Suppose you instruct a couple to have a typical conversation while you observe them in your office. This would be an example of

​obtrusive observation.

Recommendations to maximize compliance with the case assignment protocol in experiments or quasi-experiments include​

​pilot testing the randomization procedure in the agency.

​Suppose our research methods cause the client to improve. This would be termed

​reactivity.