BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT

EDF 712  -  Dr. Ben Sackmary

Managing Program Evaluation - December 6, 2001

FINAL EXAMINATION


This is a take-home final examination. Be sure to answer all of the questions. A maximum length of one-half typed page is allowed for each ten-point question (about 125 words) and one typed page for each 20-point question (about 250 words). You may use any material presented during the semester in answering the questions. You may discuss the exam with other students in the class but your answers must be entirely your own work.

Guidelines for presentation of answers to the final exam are the same as those for all written assignments. Points will deducted for misspellings, poor writing, and failure to follow the guidelines. The completed answers must be submitted directly to the instructor no later than 6:00 P.M., Monday, December 10. Be sure to keep a copy of your exam.

 
  1. Program evaluators are always confronted with a number of important tasks and challenges.
    1. As a program evaluator, what are your four most important tasks? Briefly explain why each is important. (10 points)
    2. As a program evaluator, what are your three most challenging problems? Briefly describe each problem and explain why it is challenging. (10 points)
  2. There are a variety of types of evaluations that may be used depending on the stage of development of a program. Describe a formative and an impact evaluation and identify when and why each approach is used. (10 points)

    3.  
  3. Program evaluations often involve a number of constituencies or stakeholder groups. Each group may have a different interpretation of the program, its objectives, and its outcomes. In conducting an evaluation and in presenting results, how should the program evaluator deal with these differing interpretations of "reality?" (10)

    4.  
  4. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 made moving people from welfare to work a primary goal of federal welfare policy. The 1997 federal Balanced Budget Act authorized $3 billion in welfare-to-work grants to states and local communities to find ways of promoting job opportunities and employment for people with the most severe employment challenges. The 1997 act requires an evaluation of the work-to-welfare grants including a cost-benefit or cost effectiveness analysis. Explain the meaning of both cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis and describe how each approach could be used with the welfare-to-work grants. (10 points)

    5.  
  5. The following is a data set is derived from a study of smoking cessation programs. The data represent the outcomes for two experimental programs identified as the Positive Reinforcement Program ("Plus") and the Negative Reinforcement Program ("Minus"). The following data set provides a case identification number, sex of the respondent, income, coded as less than $50,000 (<$50k) or $50,000 or more ($50k+), smoking cessation, coded as Yes or No, and the program name. Using the data in the table, prepare the following tables and present a brief interpretation of the results: (20 points) Note: You may use up to one page for each of the two parts of this question.
    1. A table that presents the relationship between gender and outcomes for both programs.
    2. A bar chart that shows the relationship between gender, income, and outcomes for both programs.

     
    Case ID#
    Sex
    Income
    Months
    Program
    1
    M
    <$50k
    		 No Plus
    2
    M
    $50k+
    		 Yes Minus
    3
    M
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    4
    M
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus
    5
    M
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    6
    F
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus
    7
    F
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus
    8
    F
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    9
    F
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    10
    F
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    11
    M
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus
    12
    F
    $50k+
    		 Yes Minus
    13
    M
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus
    14
    F
    $50k+
    		 No Plus
    15
    M
    <$50k
    		 No Minus
    16
    F
    $50k+
    		 Yes Plus
    17
    M
    $50k+
    		 No Minus
    18
    F
    <$50k
    		 Yes Plus
    19
    M
    <$50k
    		 No Plus
    20
    F
    <$50k
    		 Yes Minus

     
  6. The Children's Street Theatre is a program combining theater classes and child abuse prevention for children 7-18 years of age. Theatre classes are offered after school for children and evening classes are available for both teens and adults. The method of instruction integrates theater, games, play, and prevention. The students develop skits or revues about problems and solutions that relate to child abuse and perform them for peers and parents.


    7. The goal is for students, while learning theater skills and working on revues, to learn to trust themselves, learn to work within a group experience, develop a sense of self-worth, and educate their peers and community about the issues relating to child abuse prevention. The project staff want to evaluate the experiences of the participants, determine how parents perceive the program, and find out whether the program is effective. They would like you to design an evaluation program to answer these questions. (20 points)
     

  7. Two years ago, the cities of Alpha and Beta instituted a 10:00 P.M. curfew for people under the age of 18. The goal was to get teenagers off the streets at night and to reduce the crime rate. As part of its curfew program, Alpha added 200 police to its payroll including a special police unit devoted entirely to dealing with offenders under the age of 18. Beta spent $2 million on social services and programs and activities for young people during the early evening hours. Other area cities including Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon used only the curfew.
The two cities would like an evaluation of their programs to help them decide which is the most effective. Describe and justify the design you would use (a diagram will be most helpful). (10 points)