Open AccessEvaluation and measurement: some dilemmas for health education.
Author(s) -
L W Green
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.67.2.155
Subject(s) - standardization , documentation , replication (statistics) , external validity , adaptability , internal validity , psychology , scale (ratio) , applied psychology , medicine , computer science , risk analysis (engineering) , social psychology , economics , physics , management , pathology , virology , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
Seven dilemmas of evaluation and measurement posed by the nature of health education are presented, together with suggestions for their resolution. These include the dilemmas of : 1) rigor of experimental design vs significance or program adaptability; 2) internal validity or "true" effectiveness vs external validity or feasibility; 3) experimental vs placebo effectsl 4) effectiveness vs economy of scale; 5) risk vs payoff; 6) measurement of long-term vs short-term out-comon. Emphasis is placed on the need to develop a more cumulative data base through standardization of measures, replication of experiments in different settings, and better documentation, reporting, and diffusion of experiences in practice.