Posted: April 1st, 2015

Quasi-experimental Evaluation Designs-Questions

Study Books Used in Class:
•Peter Rossi, Mark Lipsey & Howard Freeman, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (7th edition), 2004.
•Lawrence L. Martin and Peter M. Kettner, (1996). Measuring the Performance of Human Service Programs. Sage Publications.
Description:
Please provide answers to the following four questions. The title is about Quasi-experimental Evaluation Designs. Please list question 1 followed by its answer, and so on.
I will provide some lecture notes and references.
Thank you.
Questions:
1. What are the important differences between assessing the impact of a program with a quasi-experiment relative to assessing the impact a true experiment?
2. Assume that reading levels in a school district had been steadily declining over a period of years and that a new reading program was implemented to counter the trend. After two years, reading levels declined again, but the superintendent announced that the reading program was a success because reading levels would have declined even more without the program. What would be necessary to evaluate the validity of such an interpretation?
3. Design an evaluation using nonequivalent control groups to assess the impact of providing high school students with home personal computers and software that provide reviews of the subjects they are studying in school. Make certain you include:
a. How would you select the control group?
b. When would you observe the experimental and control groups.
c. What are some alternative forms of information you could collect from the experimental and control groups?
d. What are some of the statistical tests that might be appropriate?
4. Suppose that a new treatment were offered to patients of a group medical practice in an upper-middle-class suburb. As a comparison group, similarly aged patients with the same diagnosis were found in a county hospital providing free (Medicaid) coverage to poor families. Evaluate this nonequivalent control group evaluation design?