Evaluating Family Programs: Current Issues in Theory and Policy by Heather B. Weiss & Francine Jacobs

Author:Heather B. Weiss & Francine Jacobs [Weiss, Heather B. & Jacobs, Francine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9780202362151
Google: IDFthELdrQIC
Goodreads: 5676257
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1988-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 11

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TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROGRAM VARIABLE IN COMPREHENSIVE PARENT SUPPORT PROGRAMS

Douglas R. Powell

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In 1978 my colleagues and I undertook a study of a comprehensive educational support program for parents in a low-income neighborhood. The study differed from most investigations of parent programs in at least three major ways. First, it focused on program processes, not on parent and child outcomes. The intent was to investigate participant experiences rather than to assess program effectiveness. Second, the goal was to illuminate the existing patterns of participation, with a particular interest in differences across individuals. Thus, our study differed from most process studies in that we were not “checking” to see whether the program was being implemented according to plan, with an eye toward remediation or elimination of nonstandardized elements. Third, the study placed participants within their socioecological context by examining parent characteristics as predictors of program participation. We aimed to uncover baseline predictors of different modes of program involvement over time.

This chapter is a case presentation of how one research project approached the conceptual and methodological problems of measuring the nature and predictors of participation in a long-term program for parents. To set the study in the context of current evaluation practices I will begin with a discussion of program process and the treatment variable. I will then provide a brief description of the program and discuss selected major findings. Finally, I will note implications for future process research.

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