Program Evaluation & Outcomes Flashcards

A prevention evaluator notices that participants who completed surveys at follow-up differ demographically from those lost to follow-up. This is called:

Answer: Attrition bias

Attrition bias occurs when those who drop out of a study differ systematically from those who remain, potentially skewing outcome results.

Cost-effectiveness analysis in prevention programs differs from cost-benefit analysis in that cost-effectiveness:

Answer: Compares program costs to a single unit of outcome without monetizing the outcome

Cost-effectiveness analysis expresses costs per unit of outcome (e.g., cost per person who did not use substances) without converting outcomes to dollars, unlike cost-benefit analysis.

Which of the following is an example of a 'leading indicator' in substance abuse prevention program evaluation?

Answer: Current youth perception of drug use risk

Leading indicators like youth risk perception predict future substance use behaviors and change before the ultimate health outcome, making them useful for timely program feedback.

The primary purpose of a formative evaluation conducted during program development is to:

Answer: Refine and improve program content and delivery before full implementation

Formative evaluation provides feedback during development or early implementation to improve the program before it is fully deployed.

In the context of prevention program evaluation, 'triangulation' refers to:

Answer: Combining multiple data sources or methods to increase confidence in findings

Triangulation strengthens evaluation credibility by comparing findings across multiple data sources, methods, or evaluators to identify consistent patterns.

A prevention program demonstrates statistically significant reductions in marijuana use among participants. Before attributing this to the program, an evaluator must rule out:

Answer: Rival explanations such as history, maturation, and selection bias

Internal validity threats like history (external events), maturation (natural developmental changes), and selection bias must be ruled out before concluding the program caused the observed changes.

When a CPP reports that a program achieved its 'intermediate outcomes,' this means the program successfully changed:

Answer: Attitudes, knowledge, skills, or norms that theoretically lead to behavior change

Intermediate outcomes represent changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and skills that serve as the theoretical mechanisms linking program activities to long-term behavioral outcomes.