Dimensions and design criteria for developing training reaction evaluations

Although there is research on training program evaluation, there is little systematic research on the design, development and use of training reaction evaluations. In order to obtain meaningful information from a program evaluation, evaluation professionals must be rigorous in the design and development of all aspects of an evaluation study, including instrumentation. The purposes of the study were to classify the dimensions of information sought using reaction evaluations and to establish design criteria for developing training reaction instruments. There were three major phases of the study: (1) classification of the dimensions and questionnaire design criteria used in reaction evaluations; (2) validation of the classified dimensions and the questionnaire design criteria by subject matter experts; and (3) assessment of a sample of training reaction instruments currently used in training programs in US corporations. The research findings were: eleven dimensions for reaction evaluation were identified and classified by purpose. Five overall design criteria, each consisting of several sub-criteria, were judged important in the design of reactionnaires. These include: introduction and directions; question format; question construction; questionnaire layout; and data analysis. It was concluded that a well-designed training reaction instrument integrates the proper application of design criteria with appropriate reaction dimensions. Most training reaction instruments used by US corporations consisted of questions representing only a few dimensions. The instruments varied in form and length. Few of them properly utilized the established questionnaire design criteria.     

The African Evaluation Guidelines: 2002. A checklist to assist in planning evaluations, negotiating clear contracts, reviewing progress and ensuring adequate completion of an evaluation

A review of the US ‘program evaluation standards’ (PES), undertaken in a series of workshops and meetings of networks of evaluators in Africa, resulted in modifications to those standards. The result was presented to a plenary session of the Inaugural Conference of the African Evaluation Association in September 1999, attended by over 300 evaluators from 35 countries. The AfrEA Conference decided that a systematic effort should be made to produce a list of African evaluation guidelines, similar to the PES, and that this checklist should be reviewed by national evaluation associations and networks in Africa and field tested in several countries. Ten national and regional networks and associations suggested modifications to the text and endorsed the final version of the guidelines.     

关于刘半农的评价问题

刘半农是我国新文学运动的倡导者之一 ,考查他后期的思想轨迹和生活道路 ,发现与鲁迅先生在《且介亭杂文·忆刘半农君》中所批评的情形不符合。应当实事求是地给予公允的评价。     

东北地区大城市现代化水平比较研究

以东北地区主要城市为研究区,采用AHP法用反映城市现代化不同侧面内涵的经济现代化、城市建设现代化、社会现代化与科技教育现代化四个层次20项指标构建城市现代化水平评价指标体系,分析实施振兴东北老工业基地重大战略以来各城市现代化发展变化。研究表明,2005-2010年东北地区的城市化进程明显加快,但位序上没有发生变化,依次是大连、沈阳、长春和哈尔滨。同时也表明长春与哈尔滨的城市化水平离现代化还有一段距离,但处于快速发展阶段。城市化各子系统分析还表明实现城市现代化需要在发展经济的同时协调好各个方面的关系以便共同提高。     

北京山区生态农业的功能定位、模式与评价指标体系

北京山区生态农业包括三项基本功能,这就是水资源与环境功能、经济功能和社会文化功能。北京山区在长期的生产实践中,逐步形成了两种类型的生态农业模式:一种是农户生态园式的生态农业模式;另一种是产业化经营式的生态农业模式。北京山区生态农业的评价应从系统结构、系统功能、系统效益三个方面进行整体评价。通过系统评价,择优选择系统结构合理、系统功能较强、系统效益良好的生态农业模式。     

The implications of the Lima target: Explorations with a world industrialization model

The Second General Conference of the UNIDO held in Lima in 1975 declared that the share of developing countries in total world industrial production should reach 25% by the year 2000. The model presented in this article has been constructed in order to investigate whether this target is consistent with other more generally accepted goals of development and is feasible within the area of production and trade possibilities.The model is a dynamic, multisectoral, multiregional input-output model. It focuses on the impacts and mutual consistency of targets of growth, regional income distribution, industrialization, consumption levels, and trade. In the empirical application three periods, three regions, and nine sectors have been distinguished to produce intersectorally, interregionally, and intertemporally consistent accounts for the main variables. Since the study is concerned with the maximum possible growth of industrial output of the developing countries, a linear programming approach has been used.The report is organized as follows. After an introduction, the second section describes the mathematical model. The third section contains a detailed explanation of the data basis and of the assumptions made to stimulate the model. The numerical results of the model are discussed in the fourth section, and the main conclusions are given in the fifth.     

The Construction of College Students＇ Employment Competitiveness Evaluation Index System

随着大学生就业呈现竞争化、多元化趋势,对高校就业情况的衡量标准也应由“就业率”评价向“就业竞争力”评价转变。大学生就业竞争力评价指标体系主要包括主观就业竞争力与客观就业竞争力。硬实力和软实力构成主观就业竞争力,其中软实力包括基本职业人格、学习创新能力、团队组织能力、职业知识结构四方面,客观就业竞争力包含就业机会、就业成本、就业效率和就业质量等方面。     

Attributing Outcomes to Social Policy Interventions – ‘Gold Standard’ or ‘Fool's Gold’ in Public Policy and Management?

In recent years there has been increased interest in outcome‐based social policy‐making and management. The UK has been in the forefront of this movement but similar movements have been identified internationally. This interest in outcome‐based decision‐making has been given particular impetus through the ‘results’‐based movement in evaluation and performance management since the 1980s, which has increased in scope over time, slowly changing its emphasis from cost reduction and measuring outputs to measuring outcomes. This change has been widely welcomed by policymakers, practitioners and academics. However, there is evidence that the reality is often rather less than the rhetoric. Moreover, the ‘attribution problem’ of attributing changes in outcomes to specific social policies has remained a major issue. The conceptual solution of constructing ‘cause‐and‐effect’ models, imported from the policy evaluation field, has only recently become common for operationalising these models. This article outlines the evolution of interest in outcome‐based social policy‐making up to recent times and the growing realization of the importance of the attribution problem. It then outlines both how the ‘cause‐and‐effect’ policy modelling approach can partially tackle the attribution problem, but also its inherent limitations. Lastly, the article uses several case studies in current UK social policy‐making to demonstrate the potential importance of the reasoning embedded within cause‐and‐effect models but also the dangers in policy‐making which adopts this approach without understanding its conceptual basis or in fields where it is inappropriate, given the current state of our knowledge of social policy systems.     

Endogenous socio-economic development in the European union — issues of evaluation

The public sector, in its policy statements and in the design of programmes of intervention, appears to be subscribing to a rhetoric of “grassroots participation”. At the same time, however, pressures are increasing for bureaucracies to adopt a managerialist modus operandi. This article considers the tensions that arise when participative service provision and programmes are subjected to evaluation scrutiny by managerialist bodies. The discussion takes place in the context of an EU-sponsored endogenous socio-economic development initiative. This prepares the ground for an exploration of participative evaluation.     

The participatory design of a performance oriented monitoring and evaluation system in an international development environment

This article illustrates the application of the impact monitoring and evaluation process for the design and development of a performance monitoring and evaluation framework in the context of human and institutional capacity development. This participative process facilitated stakeholder ownership in several areas including the design, development, and use of a new monitoring and evaluation system, as well their targeted results and accomplishments through the use of timely performance data gathered through ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The process produced a performance indicator map, a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework, and data collection templates to promote the development, implementation, and sustainability of the monitoring and evaluation system of a farmer's trade union in an African country.