Related Experiment Videos
Zero effects in substance abuse programs. Avoiding false positives and false negatives in the evaluation of
1City University of New York, USA.
Evaluation Review
|January 7, 1998
Summary
Evaluating community programs requires careful design to avoid errors. This study addresses false positives and false negatives in program effectiveness evaluations, using the Fighting Back initiative as a case study.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Program Evaluation
- Substance Abuse Prevention
Background:
- Community-based programs present unique challenges for evaluation.
- Common errors include false positives (incorrectly deeming a program effective) and false negatives (incorrectly deeming it ineffective).
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and illustrate approaches for reducing errors in community program evaluations.
- To examine design and analytical strategies for accurate program assessment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the "Fighting Back" national demonstration program evaluation as a case study.
- Considered design-based and analysis-based approaches to minimize evaluation errors.
- Proposed methods for assessing multiple outcomes and matching design complexity to program interventions.
Main Results:
- Identified specific design and analytical strategies to reduce false positives and false negatives.
- Demonstrated the importance of considering multiple outcomes in program evaluation.
- Highlighted the need to align evaluation complexity with program interventions.
Conclusions:
- Community trials are complex interventions requiring sophisticated evaluation designs.
- Understanding program outcomes necessitates considering the tested constructs and implementation contexts.
- Careful methodological choices are crucial for accurate community program effectiveness assessment.