TEST BANK

Social Work Evaluation: Enhancing What We Do

(Ten multiple-choice questions for each chapter)

Chapter One

1. Jill wants to conduct an evaluation on a private, non-profit substance abuse program that she oversees. She conducted an evaluation on this same program several years ago; however, new interventions have been added since that research was completed. What is the first step Jill should do during the evaluation process?

1. Identification and involvement of stakeholders
2. Identification of the problem or concern to be evaluated
3. Identification of funding sources
4. Identification of needs assessment

2. Social work practitioners can provide interventions in a wide variety of programs. The programs may be community based, office based, or within an inpatient setting. Typically, the framework of the program will affect the types of interventions provided. According to the text, what is the relationship between programs and practices?

a. They are exclusively different

b. The relationship is linear

c. They are closely intertwined

d. The relationship has no clear parameters

3. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) mandates critical thinking as one of the basic tenets of a social work education. In research, critical thinking affects both the producers and clients of research. What issue can emerge if program evaluators are not critical thinkers?

a. Not understanding the larger social forces that effect clients

b. Tendency to underemphasize psychological factors

c. Tendency to underemphasize sociological factors

d. Inappropriate data analysis procedures

4. Program evaluations can be useful for providing treatment/services that are evidence-based. Many stakeholders have interests in program evaluations, including social workers, funding sources, and clients of treatment/services provided. According to the text, what is not a component of a program evaluation?

a. Informed consent protocols

b. Program outcomes

c. Provide useful information for a cohort of clients

d. Evaluations of individual clients

5. Shamika is in the process of conducting a program evaluation. As a social work administer she intermittently evaluates the outcomes of a vocational rehabilitation program. She currently is working on developing the research questions and hypotheses. Which step of conducting a program evaluation involves the designing of research questions and hypotheses?

a. Identify any constraints

b. Identify the problem

c. Implement the evaluation

d. Plan the evaluation

6. Social work researchers are planning to evaluate the outcomes of a macro-level crime reduction program. They have been consulting with many groups about the project, including municipal politicians interested in understanding how the outcomes will be measured. According to the text, what is the name given to special interest groups that have interests in an evaluation?

a. Stakeholders

b. Task groups

c. Treatment groups

d. Social environment

7. Concerning the vignette in question #6, the social work researchers are employing multiple safeguards to ensure that the evaluation does not facilitate physical or psychological harm to any of the community’s residents. What are the researchers most likely using to ensure this?

a. Morals

b. Ethics

c. Laws

d. Paradigms

8. Keith has designed a program for helping geriatric clients in an assisted living facility. He spent several months designing the program, and now he is training technicians and clinical social workers how to implement the program. What is the definition of a program?

a. Activities that one practitioner offers

b. Services and goods of a program

c. A subunit of a social agency with a set of services with a common goal

d. A subunit of an intervention with a set of services with a common goal

9. Program evaluators want to determine the quality of an outreach program. They carefully follow the systematic steps of conducting the evaluation, making sure that all important outcomes and interventions are included. After completing the study, they determine that the outreach program has a significant amount of quality. In terms of a program evaluation, what does the quality of an outcome suggest?

a. Relevance of the interventions

b. Services delivered as intended and done very well

c. Interventions effectiveness at promoting change

d. Program is providing in-depth attention to each client

10. Erica has extensive experience as a program evaluator. She routinely uses rigorous methodologies to discover an outcome that exists, not an outcome that is desired. Further, she tends to adhere to a strict code of ethics. According to the common characteristics of evaluations, what is this vignette describing?

a. Being accountable

b. Use of political processes

c. Scientific research methods

d. Social Work Administration

Chapter Two

1. Rita is a social work professor at a university. She has been contacted by the clinical director of a behavioral healthcare agency about conducting a program evaluation. Rita explains to the clinical director that she favors using randomized groups in her evaluations. Further, she points-out that her methodology rules-out extraneous variables. What approach does she prefer for framing evaluations?

a. Inductive

b. Afrocentric

c. Fourth-generation

d. Experimental

2. Practice evaluations test the effectiveness of social work interventions, and resulting trends have been documented in social work literature for decades. A landmark study was published in 1973 on the effectiveness of social casework. Identify the two groups of people that have challenged social workers to be more accountable for their practice effectiveness?

a. Social workers and government officials

b. Social workers and statisticians

c. Government officials and statisticians

d. Government officials and insurance companies

3. Human service practices and programs tend to develop over time. Typically, client needs, and/or organizational protocols will facilitate the inception of a social work practice or program, one that will utilize effective interventions. According to the text, what are stages in the three-stage approach to practice and program development?

a. Implementation, outcome, refinement

b. Planning, implementation, and outcome

c. Planning, designing, implementation

d. Outcome, refinement, effectiveness

4. Max is conducting an evaluation to determine the utility of solution-focused interventions on attenuating anxiety. He believes that the interventions are effective, but wants to evaluate specific outcomes of the interventions used. Further, he wants to answer the ultimate question of whether the interventions make a difference in his clients’ lives. What type of evaluation is Max planning on implementing?

1. Formative
2. Client-centered
3. Experiential
4. Summative

5. The U.S. government emphasizes accountability for publicly-funded social programs. More specifically, social programs are expected to provide empirical evidence that a program’s services and interventions are effective. Evidence is reported through outcomes in the form of objectives and goals. How should these objectives and goals be designed?

a. Theoretical and evidenced-based

b. Clear and theoretical

c. Theoretical and measurable

d. Clear and measurable

6. Harold has practiced social work for years and believes that clients succeed when they are encouraged to take responsibility for their lives. When designing program evaluations, he holds this belief as a core tenant of practice. Frequently, he will determine whether clients perceive they have a sense of control over their lives. What model frames Harold’s philosophies about program evaluations?

a. Deductive

b. Experimental

c. Empowerment

d. Feminist

7. Concerning the vignette in question #6, Harold just completed an evaluation of an emergency crisis program. He received assistance designing the evaluation by members of a local client & community advisory group as they were able to clearly identify the current issues. Harold ensured that all evaluation outcomes were available to interested stakeholders. What specific evaluation model did Harold implement?

a. Participatory Action Research

b. Experimental

c. Empowerment

d. Feminist

8. Social work administrators and practitioners are planning to implement an after-school program for at-risk adolescents. They have been exploring which interventions to use and how the services will be delivered. Ideally, the program will begin several weeks after such planning is completed. What type of evaluation are the social workers using?

1. Formative
2. Client-centered
3. Experiential
4. Summative

9. As the text highlights, social programming burgeoned in the 1960’s due to multiple political and social factors. These programs targeted multiple social concerns including poverty, mental health, developmental disabilities, and racial injustice. What precipitated this wave of program development in the 1960’s?

a. Cold war and civil rights

b. Civil rights and deinstitutionalization

c. Deinstitutionalization and cold war

d. Nuclear arms proliferation and drug usage

10. Alicia is a social work practitioner who intermittently evaluates her practices. Her evaluations are framed by the assumption that there is no absolute truth, but instead partial truths that are subjective. Alicia believes that modifications to oppressive power balances will benefit clients. What model frames Alicia’s practice evaluations?

a. Results-oriented

b. Experimental

c. Fourth-generation

d. Empowerment

Chapter Three

1. Craig is planning to evaluate the effectiveness of a vocational rehabilitation program. He wants to explore the proportion of clients who successfully obtain employment, as well as the duration in months that employment is maintained. Currently, the program serves 250 clients from a medium-sized metropolitan area. What is one thing that Craig can do to ensure that the evaluation appropriately incudes and represents some of the diversity of the metropolitan area?

a. Ensure measurement reliability and validity

b. Include all 250 clients in the evaluation

c. Determine how effective the program is for single-parents

d. Use an experimental method to negate issues of bias

2. Ethics is important in all social work research, including evaluation studies, as the principles serve to protect research participants, or clients, from experiencing harm as a result of the research. Additionally, these principles provide guidelines for the professionals responsible for the funding, planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs and practices. What professional association establishes ethics for social workers?

a. NRA

b. MSW

c. NAACP

d. NASW

3. The leadership team of Agency A is planning to evaluate the effectiveness of three of its programs. They want to ensure that the programs’ clients do not experience any harm as a result of the evaluations; therefore a thorough description of the research is explained to each individual. Clients will not be included in the research if they do not explicitly agree to the terms of participation. What ethical safeguard is considered here?

1. Informed consent
2. Social justice
3. Empowerment
4. Collaboration

4. Concerning the vignette and correct response in question #3, the ethical safeguard is being implemented to protect the clients. While most of the clients believe that the evaluation will be helpful, some are skeptical as they believe the research will be used to cut programs. What component of the ethical safeguard will help clarify the rationale for the evaluation?

a. Citations for the literature review

b. Results from past evaluations

c. Agency budget for next fiscal year

d. General purpose for evaluation

5. Social worker students at a local college want to evaluate a women’s program. They have designed the methodology to answer research questions and test hypotheses and are confident that the outcome measure will appropriately present the relevance and effectiveness of the program. Before starting the evaluation the students need to obtain approval from the college’s ethical entity. What is the name of this entity?

a. Institutional standards board

b. Institutional review board

c. Office of the provost

d. NASW

6. The American Evaluation Association has established ethical standards exclusively for evaluation activities. As an association, it deems five principles that serve to guide the evaluation process. One of the principles specifies that evaluators are to prevent participants from being harmed and having their privacy invaded. What is the name of this principle?

1. Respect for all people
2. Social Justice
3. Competence
4. Common sense

7. Jill wants to plan an evaluation for a family preservation program. She has managed the program for six years and has completed annual evaluations for the past four. Her management philosophies, which also influence her evaluations, are to promote social justice in the provision of services. How can Jill ensure that social justice is acknowledged during the program evaluation?

a. Evaluation is qualitative

b. Evaluators are from diverse populations

c. Evaluators are completely objective

d. Evaluation takes into consideration disadvantaged groups

8. A sociologist named Laud Humphries conducted a research project in 1970 named the Tearoom Trade. The goal of the research was to determine the demographics of males who engaged in same-sex behaviors. Mr. Humphries was a participant observer, whereas his role as “watch-queen” was to notify the men if law enforcement was approaching the public restroom facilities. None of the men knew his true identity as a researcher and as such his methodology involved ethical concerns. Which concern most likely occurred in the Humphries study?

a. Crime

b. Deception

c. Morals

d. Professionalism

9. Researchers employed with a pharmaceutical company are studying the efficacy of one of the company’s anti-depressant medications. The researchers have a substantial amount of experience as they have studied the effectiveness of many of the company’s medications. The CEO of the company is thrilled when she learns that the new antidepressant is found to reduce depression. What ethical concern may be present here?

a. Psychological harm

b. Informed consent

c. Emphasis on medication

d. Conflict of interest

10. Maria conducted an evaluation for a domestic violence program and found that the interventions may be harmful as some of the clients reported more violence during and after participating in the program. One client claimed that the clinician encouraged her to immediately leave her partner, and as a result she is reportedly being stalked and receiving threats from her partner. Ethically, how can Maria help this client?

a. Providing access to support services

b. Contact the program’s administrators

c. Nothing, it will convolute the evaluation

d. Confront client’s partner

Chapter Four

1. Jose is evaluating his practices at an early childhood development center. He is using a single-systems design to evaluate how well the children function in residential settings. Jose anticipates that these children will display less behavioral disturbances after the interventions are implemented. What type of practice evaluation is being described?

a. Documenting client outcomes

b. Experimental

c. Client satisfaction

d. Brun’s typology

2. Pryia, a social work administrator, is concerned about how well the community support program works. She decides to evaluate the program by reviewing case files and interviewing staff and clients. Her goal is to determine how well the program is functioning, according to the state’s rules for mental health services. What type of evaluation is Pryia facilitating?

a. Cost/benefit analysis

b. Client or staff satisfaction

c. Deductive

d. Quality assurance

3. Chapter Four reviews a variety of common evaluation models. Examples of these models include needs assessments, outcome evaluations, and client satisfaction studies. Hopefully, readers of this text will learn about the nuances among different models. According to the text, what is a way of distinguishing the different types of evaluation models?

a. Entities are socially constructed

b. Models are readily evident in practice settings

c. Theoretical orientations

d. Professional affiliations

4. Chapter Four highlights types of program evaluations. These types include client satisfaction and outcome studies. Which option below is not considered a program evaluation type, but instead is a professional practice evaluation type. .

a. Monitoring practice

b. Client outcomes

c. Quality assurance

d. Client satisfaction

5. Social work practitioners are interested in determining if interventions help clients’ achieve goals. Single-system designs are a method that practitioners can use for evaluating practices. What is a tool that helps social workers understand the extent to which interventions affect client goals?

1. Code of ethics
2. Goal attainment scale
3. Logic model
4. Evidence-based practices

6. Social activists are holding rallies to promote awareness of sexual violence. Some of these rallies are designed to raise the public’s understanding of the social problem. Activists hope to educate the community about recent legal decisions that enable repeat sexual offenders to remain on the streets. What type of evaluation explores the ramifications for the legal decisions?

a. Social policy

b. Utilitarian

c. Newspaper and other media reports

d. Judicial or court decisions

7. Program accreditation is an evaluation model that assesses whether a program meets specific standards. As a form of quality control, accreditation entities can help member agencies meet professional standards. Which accreditation entity includes BSW and MSW programs as member agencies?

a. CSWE

b. CEA

c. CARF

d. JACHO

8. Over the past several decades, evidenced-based practices have increased in the social and behavioral sciences. . Evidence-based practices can be deduced from quasi-experimental and experimental group projects that are designed to control for external influences. What type of evaluation model tends to use quasi-experimental and experimental methods?

a. Client-satisfaction

b. Cost-benefit analysis

c. Audits

d. Outcome evaluations

9. A particular practice evaluation model is implemented when the client is terminating services. This model can also be useful if it is implemented concurrent to receiving services. In general, the model elicits feedback from the client on distinguishing interventions that are helpful and not helpful. What is the name of this practice evaluation model?

a. Accreditation

b. Needs assessment

c. Client outcome

d. Client satisfaction

10. A therapist wants to determine the extent to which her interventions are helpful. She believes they are highly effective, but wants to reduce the probability of subjective biases. In order to do this, she asks her supervisor to observe her practices through a two-way mirror, and obtains clients’ permission to record their sessions so she may review the audiotapes. What type of evaluation is this therapist using?

a. Client satisfaction

b. Monitoring practice

c. Needs Assessment

d. Social Constructionist

Chapter Five

1. Raj is in the process of planning a program evaluation. Currently, he is defining the essential components of the program that are critical to its functioning. He gathers information from clients and colleagues for the purpose of identifying the most important components. Raj is focusing on which guideline for conducting an evaluation?

a. Identification of program elements

b. Identification of typical interventions

c. Identification of research questions

d. Identification of typical services

2. The Board of Directors for a public, not for profit agency suggests that that the food pantry program be evaluated. In response to this suggestion, the quality assurance team begins to prepare for the evaluation by identifying pertinent evaluation questions. During a meeting, one individual expresses concerns about the evaluation, stating that the agency is not prepared to complete the evaluation. According to the text, what is the name of the factors that are opposed to completing an evaluation?

a. Defiant

b. Challenge

c. Oppositional

d. Resistant

3. Pros and cons can both be identified when exploring the use of use of clients in an evaluation. A pro is that clients can help researchers understand which data collection approaches are the most appropriate and accessible for individuals. A con is that some clients may not provide useful information to researchers due to assumed level of impairment. Which approach assumes that clients are involved during all steps of an evaluation?

a. Feminist models

b. Deductive approaches

c. Participatory action approach

d. Evidence-based models

4. Fred has designed general study questions for evaluating a children’s program. Prior to this, he explored multiple program elements, including the age of clients served, intake procedures, accessibility of services, and common therapy models. In terms of the feasibility of the evaluation what does he need to consider?

a. Staffing issues

b. Theory selection

c. Expertise in evaluation procedures

d. Identifying potential resources

5. Crafting appropriate and relevant study questions is important for any evaluation. Such questions are often broad and open-ended, and should not to be confused with specific questions that can be asked of research participants. Rather, study questions are used to frame the entire evaluation and should be designed to obtain wanted information given limitations of time and available resources. What characteristic of a study question is being described in the last sentence?

a. Feasible

b. Clarity

c. Not too broad or specific

d. Logistics

6. Concerns of practicality may influence the development of research questions. Some research questions are important, but not enough resources are available for obtaining answers. Likewise, some questions may be important, but there are no data available for answering the inquiries. According to the guidelines for focusing an evaluation, what step comes after evaluation questions are formulated?

a. Literature review

b. Construct data collection approaches

c. Identify the program elements

d. Identify supportive and resistant forces

7. Funding sources are an important resource for social work evaluators. It is crucial that funding availability is known prior to implementing a practice or program evaluation. Of course funding is one of many resources that are available to conducting evaluations. According to the text, which of the following options is most likely a resource for facilitating an evaluation?

a. Client intelligence or higher functioning levels

b. Prior agency experience in completing useful evaluations

c. Professional affiliation

d. International support

8. Nikki has evaluated programs for children, adolescents, and adults in public and private agencies. Recently, she was speaking with a colleague about designing a program evaluation. Her comments were in regards to the study questions being well written, clear, and succinct. What characteristic of a study question is she referencing?

a. Tangible

b. Feasible

c. Clarity

d. Importance

9. Evaluators need to consider many elements when forming an evaluation, including the types of program being evaluated, types of data available, and the medium in which data is available. To begin, initial questions must be asked in order to structure the evaluation process. To whom are such initial questions directed?

a. Researchers

b. Theorists

c. Legislators

d. Stakeholders

10. A seasoned social work administrator from a private agency wishes to evaluate a program designed to treat eating and body image disorders. Before commencing the evaluation, the administrator carefully notes the roles of the other administrators within the agency and the possible influence each of these individuals may have on decisions. According to the text, what is Henry taking into consideration?

a. Power dynamics

b. Political context of agency

c. Responsibilities of colleagues

d. Staff hierarchy

Chapter Six

1. Marguerite is planning to evaluate a safety alliance program for the first time since it opened in 2006. In the early stage of planning, she realizes that the process may involve multiple activities, all of which can be overwhelming and cumbersome, especially for someone rather new to the evaluation process. According to the logic model, which of the following activities would be involved in evaluation planning?

1. Determining clients’ problems
2. Determining unmet needs
3. Determining causes of the problem
4. All of the above

2. A social worker employed at Company XYZ wishes to analyze Program CDE and in doing so, she examines the sequence of steps in the program’s development, beginning with the needs of prospective clients and ending with anticipated client outcomes. She is most likely using which evaluation model?

a. Dialectical Model

b. Qualitative Model

c. Logic Model

d. Needs Assessment Model

3. A substance abuse agency wishes to conduct a needs assessment to identify the needs of a target group. In this case, the target group is females using substance between the ages of 25 and 34. The tool used to obtain the information is a questionnaire. What may be a limit of using a questionnaire with any target group of individuals?

a. The reader believes the instructions to be simplistic

b. The reader believes the questionnaire is too complicated

c. The questionnaire was distributed at a local soup kitchen during lunch

d. The questionnaire is only 10 questions in length

4. Responses to open-ended questions can provide information for constructing evaluation goals and objectives. This information tends to be exploratory as in-depth details can be provided on any given topic. Of the following questions, which one is the best example of an open-ended question?

a. Do you have any goals?

b. Would you prefer to attend a therapy group in the morning or in the afternoon?

c. Would you rather attend group on Monday or Thursday?

d. What would be your hesitation in attending a group?

5. Angela’s goal is to gain an understanding of the needs of those with past substance abuse and/or dependence histories and the barriers these individuals face in obtaining housing in the community. She begins to conduct interviews but finds that speaking to individuals in the general community is not allowing her to obtain the information that she needs. She decides to interview experts in the community, including treatment providers and administrators in behavioral health settings . What type of interview is Angela now conducting?

a. Leading

b. Identification of problem

c. Observation

d. Informant

6. Social work researchers are conducting a public forum to discuss the topics of mental health and cancer treatment. They have posted signs and added information to a community’s website to announce the meeting site and location, encouraging anyone with interest to attend. Based on this information, what will be characteristic of the issues discussed during the forum?

a. The issues will have a moderate or manageable amount of implications for the community

b. The issues will have broad implications for communities across the country

c. The issues will have implications for the community

d. The issues will be ethical

7. In a rural community there appears, on the surface, to be an increase in the number of homeless individuals residing in the area. A number of social work professionals believe a new program is needed to assist the individuals. According to the text, what may be some of the most challenging barrier(s) to starting a new program?

a. Choosing a name for the agency

b. Garnering support from influential stakeholders

c. The location, cost, and fees to start a program

d. Elements of the physical environment including utilities and space

8. Jasmine, a program supervisor, wants to evaluate the adequacy of an existing program. She and a group of professional research colleagues prudently visit and evaluate the program in terms of relevance to the identified needs of the target group served. According to the text, what specific information would the evaluators be interested in obtaining?

a. Relevance of the interventions to clients

b. Demographic characteristics of the individuals served

c. A & B

d. None of the above

9. Needs assessments provide helpful information about the programming needs of a certain client population. To a lesser extent, they can also be used to improve social work practices by gathering clients’ perceptions of their current and perceived future needs. What other information can needs assessments provide for practice evaluations?

a. Accessibility barriers

b. Funding sources

c. Empirical evidence

d. Political climate

10. Richard is conducting a needs assessment for referrals interested in a family preservation program. He proceeds to explore the data that already exists on the topic, reviewing documents from social service agencies and governmental studies What method is Richard using?

a. Consulting experts

b. Conducting interviews

c. Administering a questionnaire

d. Documenting needs with existing data

Chapter Seven

1. The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) surveyed the goals of an Assertive Community Treatment Team. The recommendations suggested that clients would be more likely to achieve personal goals if they had access to vocational rehabilitation and substance abuse services. What is one of the functions of program and practice goals?

a. A method for placating stakeholders

b. Justify additional funding

c. Evidence of flaws or inadequacies for the program’s recipients.

d. Where the program/practice area is going

2. Kate, utilizing a person-centered approach, develops goals by collaborating with her clients and their respective natural supports, when available. Together, they design goals that can be met over the course of the next three to six months, as well as long-term goals that can be met in a year. . What characteristic of a goal is being described in this vignette?

a. Limitations

b. Time oriented

c. Client functioning

d. Unintended goals

3. A Clinical Director is planning to implement a treatment program for adults with severe and persistent mental illness. As part of the planning, the director has been exploring “best practice” interventions to implement as part of service delivery. Ideally, the intervention’s goals should:

1. Be easily achieved
2. A logical outgrowth of the intervention
3. Be driven by funding sources
4. Be summative

4. Mrs. Murphy is in need of supportive services to assist her in developing self-care skills so that she can remain living in her current home independently in the community. Which of the following is the appropriate measurable objective that should be included in her treatment plan?

1. Open mail as needed
2. Take medications daily as ordered by her prescriber, every morning and every evening
3. Call her daughter sometimes
4. Wash her clothes

5. The goal of a particular program is to reduce rates of hospital admissions by 20% over the next 12 months. In evaluating the program, it is important that the applied measurable objectives meet three properties. The three properties are:

1. Specific, Global, Theoretical
2. Validity, Reliability, Suitability
3. Performance, Conditions, Conclusions
4. Performance, Conditions, Criteria

6. Delaney, a clinical social worker, is working with a Hmong client who has limited resources to maintain his housing. In developing the person-centered goals with the client, which of the following most closely approximates the property “criteria?”

1. Attend as many job interviews as possible
2. Call emergency resource centers as needed
3. Maintain scheduled appointments with providers as often as possible
4. Complete entitlement applications in 30 minutes

7. A crime prevention program has been implemented in the community for the last four years. The Program administrators want to establish new goals for the next calendar year. Therefore, they have several meetings and decide that the main goal of the program will be to reduce the state’s crime rates to zero percent. What is problematic about this goal?

a. Too global

b. Unobservable outcomes

c. Unintended goals

d. Philosophical issues

8. Nohra, a client of a domestic violence program, believes that her service goals and objectives need to be modified. She is concerned that they are not realistic and that she is not progressing as quickly as she initially anticipated. What is the definition of an objective?

a. Specific indicators of theoretical assumptions

b. Specific indicators of whether goals are being reached

c. Specific indicators of the social worker’s practices

d. Specific indicators that determine the formulation of needs assessments

9. Social work clinicians and administrators are working on developing goals for a program, as well as goals for clients. For some goals, there is consensus among the professionals; however, there have been strong debates about the appropriateness of other goals. What differentiates program from practice goals?

1. Program goals are empirical and practice goals are conceptual
2. There are no differences
3. Program goals are stated in general terms and practice goals are more detailed
4. Practice goals are stated in general terms and program goals are more detailed

10. Alice is creating practice objectives for clients of an older adult hospice program. She is careful to include all of the principles for creating appropriate objectives; yet, she is experiencing difficulty in meeting the criteria for the subject in the objectives. What group tends to be the emphasized as the subject in objectives?

a. Administrator

b. Funding source

c. Practitioner

d. Client

Chapter Eight

1. Agency BBB provides services to support children and families in the community. Agency administrators are excited about the emergence of evidence-based practices that significantly improve client functioning, and therefore order manuals that detail the interventions so the emerging best practices can be replicated. One-year later administrators are disappointed that the evidence-based practices are not producing the intended results. According to the text, what may be an issue with the implementation of the evidence-based practices?

a. Clients are resistant

b. Agency did not invest time and resources that enable the practices to work as intended

c. Agency transitioned too abruptly from traditional practices and service goals

d. Stakeholders in the community represented resistant factors

2. In the last vignette, agency BBB places importance on using evidence-based programs and practices. There are many methods for determining evidence-based practices, many of which may or may not produce the intended outcomes for clients. According to the text, what are the best sources for identifying evidence-based interventions?

1. Quasi-experimental and experiential designs, plus clinical practice
2. Survey and observational research, plus clinical practice
3. Political Stakeholders
4. Clinical practice and descriptive designs

3. Tom is a social work administrator for the Department of Veterans Affairs. His responsibilities include monitoring clinical programs and staff members. Currently he is reviewing the cultural, racial, and ethnic characteristics of staff members. What standard is he evaluating?

a. Staff Heterogeneity

b. Staff Homogeneity

c. Staff Diversity

d. Internationality

4. Helen provides services to clients in a teenage parenting program. She wants to obtain evidence that the program’s interventions are effectively addressing the clients’ problems. What important implementation issue is being acknowledged in this vignette?

1. Linking the intervention to the clients problems
2. Is the program implemented as intended
3. Feasibility and utility
4. Client Satisfaction

5. The quality assurance team of a private, not for profit agency is evaluating the quality of three programs. They are carefully completing the evaluations, in part because the agency’s accreditation entity mandates sound evaluations. Identify the following condition that can contribute to the “easiness” of program and practice evaluations.

1. Standards of quality are clearly defined and measurable
2. There are a limited amount of outcomes for each program
3. The use of secondary data
4. Standards of quality are obtuse

6. There are a number of accrediting entities including but not limited to Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). As for academics, CSWE is responsible for accrediting undergraduate and graduate programs of social work. What does CSWE generate?

a. Professional values that reinforce the goals and objectives of a social work education

b. Student referral sources and program advertisement

c. Professional standards that are critiqued and evaluated by social work programs

d. Professional standards that educational programs are expected to adopt and implement

7. Social work administrators are debating the merits of using open-ended versus close-ended questions in a client-satisfaction survey. There are positive and negative connotations for both types of questions, and overall the team wants to develop a solid measure. According to the text, how many open-ended questions are typically included in a client satisfaction survey?

a. Zero open-ended questions

b. One or two open-ended questions

c. Approximately half of the questions are open-ended

d. Most of the questions are open-ended

8. Practice accessibility is an issue that affects many stakeholders including administrators, practitioners, and perhaps most importantly clients. What can result is that an agency will miss opportunities to generate revenue, social workers struggle to meet productivity standards, and clients do not get their service needs met. According to the text, how can an agency address the issues of accessibility?

1. Follow-up on no-shows and early dropouts
2. Provide wrap around services
3. Recruit target populations that are accessible
4. Nothing, client interest always outnumbers the availability of services

9. Juan is generating clinically based evidence for his practices at a court diversion program. Over the years, he has observed a large amount of anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of behavioral interventions. As such, he is planning a group design to gather explanatory evidence for the interventions. What is a “rule of thumb” Juan can use to determine if he provides enough detail about the interventions in the evaluation report?

1. Clients’ are able to self-administer interventions
2. Ability to persuade important stakeholders
3. Interventions can be replicated in other agencies
4. Clients’ are able to critically consume the evaluation

10. In regards to the vignette presented in question #9, Juan finds explanatory evidence that the behavioral interventions produce positive outcomes. Further, he finds that the clients who benefit the most from the program report that the social workers facilitate a milieu of caring and acceptance. What type of accessibility is being described in this question?

1. Physical
2. Diversity
3. Psychological
4. Cultural

Chapter Nine

1. A key component of any program evaluation is the review of a program to see how the program helped clients. In the outcomes stage, which of the following tools should an evaluator consider using to determine the effectiveness of a program?

1. Goal Attainment Scale, Client Satisfaction, Target Problem Scale
2. Client satisfaction, Cost-benefit Analysis, Summary Scale
3. Goal Attainment Scale, Target Problem Scale, Sequencing Blocks
4. Participants, Stakeholders, Social Workers

2. Outcomes should ultimately focus on clients and on not staff interventions. If an auditor were to review a program for effectiveness, which of the following goals is most appropriately focused on the client outcomes?

1. Sally will be assisted with developing coping skills
2. Sally will contact crisis services when she needs additional support
3. Sally will be contacted every week to monitor status and level of change
4. Sally will have access to medication management services

3. According to the text, Martin and Kettner (1996) offer seven criteria for determining whether an outcomes measure is adequate or acceptable. The outcome measure criteria that refers to whether the outcome measure reflects what it is supposed to measure and whether it does so accurately is the _____________ criteria.

1. Reliability
2. Precision
3. Cost
4. Validity

4. In social work research it may be difficult to study causal relationships. Codes of ethics and professional values tend to make it difficult to withhold treatments, which in-turn makes it difficult to form control groups in research. Which item is not a condition that must be met for claiming a causal relationship?

1. Independent variable precedes the dependent variable in time
2. Measures are reliable
3. Statistical association between the independent and dependent variable
4. Statistical association is due to the independent variable and not an extraneous variable(s)

5. A program evaluator wants to conduct a time series design for assessing the effectiveness of a program designed to serve those with eating disorders. The evaluator is currently obtaining baseline measurements in the form of daily caloric intakes for a research participant. It is the hope that the interventions help the research participants maintain healthy nutritional habits. What type of research methodology is a time series design?

a. Pre-experimental

b. Quasi-experimental

c. Experimental

d. Cross-sectional

6. A researcher is planning to use an ABAB single systems design to evaluate a program that serves adolescents. More specifically, the researcher is interested to see if the program helps reduce amounts of anxiety after 30 days. What do the A and B phases stand for in a single systems design?

a. A = Intervention phase; B = Outcome phase

b. A = Baseline phase; B = Outcome phase

c. A = Intervention point; B = Baseline point

d. A = Baseline phase; B = Intervention phase

7. An instructor of a Social Work Research Methods course presents a lecture on the limitations of group research designs. She states that some research designs allow for causal inferences, others shed light on correlations, and some designs are used to describe social phenomena. Which group design has a weakness of not including a comparison or control group?

a. One-group pretest/posttest design

b. Time series design

c. Pretest/posttest comparison group design

d. Pretest/posttest control group design

8. Juan plans to measure the outcomes for a substance abuse treatment program. The outcomes are defined as the percentage of clients who refrain 100% from illicit drugs and alcohol use at 3, 6, 9, and 12 month intervals. Juan is confident in the measures because they are consistent. What term indicates that a measure has internal consistency?

a. Precision

b. Usefulness

c. Reliability

d. Validity

9. Today, social work interventions are inclined to be evidence-based practices. Funders, administrators, and clients expect to see evidence that the programs and practices used are representative of “best-practices,” or have empirical support for being effective. What is an operational definition for evidence-based practices?

a. Practices that have a lengthy history of being implemented

b. Interventions that approximate causal relationships to client outcomes

c. Interventions that approximate exploratory or descriptive links to client outcomes

d. Interventions that a practitioner is comfortable implementing

10. Group designs can be valuable to evaluations, particularly if the goals of the evaluation are to explain, predict, or claim causal inferences. Many of these methodologies involve using either control or comparison groups. What makes these two groups different?

a. Diversity of demographics

b. Validity and Reliability

c. Size

d. Random assignment

Chapter Ten

1. Pam is interested in exploring the nature of the relationships between children and staff at a residential treatment program. She identifies a facility and the facility’s administrators agree that she can use face-to-face surveys with staff, including mental health technicians, clinicians, and psychiatrists. Pam decides to conduct in-depth interviews with three different types of staff members to find out about their relationships with the children. What type of analysis will she conduct? 

a. Case Studies

b. Single Systems Design

c. Validity studies

d. Suitability studies

2. An evaluator has significant interest in examining the legislative processes that led to the mental health deinstitutionalization movement. He researches multiple transcripts on the legislative debates that occurred in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The goal of the data analysis is to better understand the legislative discourse patterns that occurred over this twenty-year period. What type of data analysis is the most appropriate?

a. Interview Schedule

b. Theme Analysis

c. Case Study

d. Multivariate

3. Terrence is a lead investigator for a qualitative project focused on exploring how technology impacts the efficacy of a parenting program. He is shocked that over 500 caregivers respond to the open-ended questions. Which type of data analysis is most appropriate for the analysis of these responses?

a. Case studies

b. Descriptive statistics

c. Condense responses into general categories

d. Measures of central tendency

4. Clinical observations at a child guidance center indicate that three interventions hold promise for helping autistic children. The three interventions are behavioral, behavioral coupled with family systems, and behavioral coupled with psychoeducation. However, evidence-based practice dictates that the three interventions be tested to determine which is the most effective. How can a researcher compare the differences among the three interventions using a statistical test?

a. T-test

b. Measures of central tendency

c. Measures of variability

d. ANOVA

5. Bill runs a psychoeducational group for individuals who have been admitted to a residential facility. He wants to evaluate the group intervention and therefore administers a quantitative questionnaire to the 12 group members. The responses to one question result in a mean score of 20, and the standard deviation is 6. How can this standard deviation be interpreted?

a. Six units from the mean are statistically significant

b. Six units from the mean are statistically and clinically significant

c. It is a standardized measure of how scores flucuate around the mean

d. Average score for the measure is 14

Correct reposnse: C

6. A consistent finding in criminology literature is that there is an association between race and type of arrest (e.g. robbery, assault, homicide, etc.). This finding is reviewed by the criminal justice department at a university. Some believe that theses results are due to institutional discrimination, while others believe that it depends on the demographic characteristics of an area. What statisitc can test a hypothesis that states there is an association between race and type of arrest?

a. Chi-square

b. Standard deviation

c. T-test

d. Tests of variance

7. Hospice programs provide crucial services for individuals with terminal illnesses and their families. Two divergent staffing paradigms are implemented in hospice programs. The first paradigm uses only masters-level providers, while the second primarily uses bachelor-level providers with a masters-level supervisor. Researchers are interested in determining if there are differences between the paradigms in terms of client satisfaction. Which type of data analysis can measure differences between two groups?

a. t-test

b. ANOVA

c. Correlation

d. Descriptive statistics

Correct reposnse: A

8. Program evaluators are trying to gain knowledge into the cognitive distortions of sexual offenders. They expect that there will be a “norm” of cognitive distortions, but what is emerging is a substantial amount of variability. What appears are that some offenders distort their intentions, some distort the interests in their victims, and some have distortions about the concepts of love and intimacy. What is the name of the type of descriptive statistics that illustrates how much responses vary from the "norm?"

a. Measures of variability

b. Measures of central tendency

c. Range

d. Mean

Correct reposnse: A

9. Alicia wants to test the associations between SES and education for program recepients. One of the variables that approximates SES is household income. She designates family income as representing income per year and the variable has values of 1 = $0 to $25,000, 2 = $25, 001 to $50,000, 3 = $50,001 to $80,000, 4 = $80,001 to $100,000, and 5 = above $100,000. What is the level of measurement of the variable household income?

a. Nominal

b. Ordinal

c. Interval

d. Ratio

10. Measures of variability are important for quantitative analysis because the measures determine the extent to which scores of a value vary or disperse from measures of central tendency. For instance, a group program recepients may take a test and the scores may be 75, 82, 84, 88, and 93. Thus the range in scores is from 75 to 93, which places the mean score at 84.4%. Which statistic is not a measure of variability?

a. Standard deviation

b. Range

c. Variance

d. Mean

Chapter Eleven

1. Dissemination of findings is the final step of the evaluation process. As the text illustrates, evaluations take time and resources to conduct and therefore it is important to effectively disseminate the results. What group(s) must be taken into consideration when preparing the final report?

a. Researchers

b. Publishers

c. Educators

d. Stakeholders

2. Peter is preparing a technical report on an evaluation of the state’s mental health programs. The project was extensive as eight research assistants along with the principle researcher, Peter, collected data from dozens of agencies. According to the text, how can information from the technical report be disseminated?

a. Presentation at a meeting

b. Giving out report

c. Informal discussions

d. All of the Above

3. In regards to the vignette from question #2, clients from a county mental health agency hear about the report and they ask Peter to provide more details on the outcomes. Peter graciously agrees to personally disseminate the findings to a group of 25 clients. How should this information be disseminated?

a. Never disseminate technical reports to clients

b. Informal discussions

c. Encrypted

d. With scientific precision and detail

4. In regards to the vignettes from questions #2 and #3, the clients acquire the desired information about the state’s mental health programs from Peter’s presentation of the technical report. Subsequently, the clients inform the staff at the agency about the evaluation, and now the staff is interested in the findings. How can the findings be disseminated to the staff?

a. From media outlets

b. Literature review

c. Second-hand from the agency’s administrators

d. Staff workshops

5. Many strategies can be employed in preparing an evaluation report for the Leadership Team. Rudy believes that the report should immediately address the concerns about a program or practice intervention. What strategy is Rudy using for preparing a report?

a. Highlighting background information

b. Clarifying the purpose

c. Use of political agendas

d. Social environmental perspective

6. Upon the completion of research, a group of evaluators make multiple recommendations to the CEO about improving a program that serves people with developmental disabilities. The recommendations cover a range of individual, group, and community interventions. How should these recommendations be developed?

a. Draw general conclusions from the findings

b. Draw specific conclusions from research that evaluates similar programs.

c. Draw specific conclusions from the methodology

d. Draw general conclusions from the literature

7. A group of evaluators make several recommendations to the business directors for ameliorating issues at a childcare program. Over the course of the evaluation, the evaluators received valuable input from stakeholders. Now the same group of evaluators plans to disseminate the evaluation outcomes to the stakeholders. What strategy should they employ?

a. State recommendations in a way that challenges stakeholders

b. State recommendations in a way that entertains stakeholders

c. Inform the stakeholders on the biases of the project

d. State recommendations in ways that are relevant to stakeholders

8. After completion of the program evaluation, Helen plans to present the outcomes to the board of directors. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine whether intelligence is related to criminal recidivism. She made sure to choose the appropriate statistical test for analyzing the relationship between these two variables, and made sure to include both positive and negative findings. Given this vignette, what can Helen conclude about the strengths of the findings?

a. Theoretical

b. Clear

c. Accurate

d. Conceptual

9. A social service agency is interested in recruiting prospective families. Therefore, the executive committee conducts a needs assessment to determine what issues may be important to potential families. According to the text, how should the results of the needs assessment be disseminated to prospective clients?

a. One-page flyer

b. Technical report

c. Newspaper article

d. Press release

10. Maiv’s goal is to publish the results of the program evaluation she conducted. More specifically, she wants the evaluation to be published in a peer-reviewed social work journal and is in the process of determining what journal is most appropriate for her submission. Why is Maiv interested in submitting the evaluation for publication?

a. Afraid of the consequences of direct dissemination

b. Wants to share outcomes with other providers

c. Is concerned about sharing results with stakeholders

d. Wants it to be inaccessible to clients

Chapter Twelve

1. According to the text, the first step in conducting an evaluation is to identify the problem or concern to be evaluated. The problem or concern must be stated clearly and concisely so that readers of an evaluation report can critically consume the study. The text suggests which of the following models for framing how well the author has identified the problem?

a. Post-Modern

b. Experiential

c. Experimental

d. Logic

2. In an ideal agency, social work practitioners will be able to apply the most effective interventions for empowering clients and client systems. Unfortunately, there are multiple factors that can interfere with this ideal situation. According to the text, what circumstance(s) can interfere with the implementation of effective interventions?

1. Lack of resources
2. Training limitations
3. Lack of administrative support
4. A & B
5. A, B, & C

3. Dana, a first-year graduate student, is reviewing an evaluation report for a substance abuse program. She needs to identify and critique the purpose of the study in order to complete a course assignment. In what section of the report will she most likely find the purpose of the evaluation stated?

1. Research Questions & Hypotheses
2. Research Results
3. Webpage
4. Research Dissemination

4. Min’s early experiences as a student researcher are similar to those of other social work graduate students. They are required to take at least one research methods courses in every MSW program. Which accrediting body mandates research methods courses for all undergraduate and graduate students of social work?

1. CSWE
2. IFSW
3. NASW
4. ATF

5. As a social worker, Emily is committed to using evidenced-based practices. She believes that social workers have an ethical obligation to implement effective practices and programs. Further, she makes concerted efforts to help her clients understand practice and program evaluations. According to the text, what is a plausible assumption about why clients could critically consume evaluations?

1. Clients are incapable of consuming evaluations
2. Clients focus on meeting treatment objectives and goals
3. Clients will have the most at stake in evaluations
4. None of the above

6. Stefani is involved in critically consuming a research report. She recognizes that understanding the research design of a report can be challenging. Among other things, a critical consumer like Stefani will need to understand the intervention that was used, and how the outcomes are measured. Why is it that such critiques can be challenging for the critical consumer?

1. It requires considerable application knowledge about research designs
2. It requires considerable technical knowledge about research methodologies
3. It requires considerable application knowledge and interpretation methods
4. None of the above

7. In disseminating the evaluation report for an organization, researchers should ensure that stakeholders either have access to or are informed about the results. The use of newsletters, newspaper inserts, and workshops can be effective in communicating the evaluation report. When researchers consider who the stakeholders are, it is important to include which of the following groups that is often overlooked?

1. Those who fund the organization
2. Those who are responsible for the oversight of the organization
3. Those who are responsible for the accreditation of the organizations
4. Those who are clients and family members

8. Social workers are encouraged and sometimes expected to have an understanding of research methods. This knowledge will help practitioners evaluate program and practice evaluations, particularly as it pertains to understanding evidence-based practices. According to the text, why is it important for social workers to critically consume evidence-based practices?

1. Consequences to clients can occur if evaluations are misinterpreted
2. Helps social workers obtain recognition, including promotions
3. Helps social workers build a large referral-base
4. Both C & D

9. After completing a program evaluation, researchers often debate about what strategies to use in disseminating the results. Eventually they decide on several alternatives including an executive summary, informal presentations, and a technical report. Why is it advantageous to use multiple strategies for disseminating an evaluation?

1. Helps with notoriety
2. Stakeholders have varying needs and capacities as critical consumers
3. Helps provide accountability, which is important to most stakeholders
4. Stakeholders have multiple time constraints and benefit from the flexibility

10. A public meeting is planned as a means to allow stakeholders to hear about the results of an evaluation. Unfortunately, the location for the meeting can only accommodate 30 participants. As such, a community organizer suggests that clients not be invited to the meeting; however, this idea is quickly quelled. What stereotypes exist about clients that may keep this group from receiving invitations to the meeting?

1. Clients are viewed as being disinterested in critically consuming research
2. Clients are viewed as being distracting to other attendees
3. Clients are viewed as being incapable of being critical consumers of research
4. None of the above