Qualitative evaluation of the project P.A.T.H.S. based on the perceptions of the program participants

Qualitative evaluation was carried out to understand the perceptions of the students participating in the Tier 1 Program of the P.A.T.H.S. Project. Five focus groups based on 43 students recruited from four schools were conducted to generate qualitative data to evaluate the program. With specific focus on how the informants described the program, results showed that the descriptors used were mainly positive in nature. When the informants were invited to name three metaphors that could stand for the program, the related metaphors were basically positive in nature. Finally, the program participants perceived many beneficial effects of the program in different psychosocial domains. Intra- and inter-rater reliability analyses revealed that the coding of the positive or negative nature of the responses was reliable. The present study provides qualitative support for the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in promoting holistic development in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.