Abstract
A total of 546 students participated in the Tier 1 Program of the P.A.T.H.S. Project responded to the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) at pretest and posttest and the Subjective Outcome Scale (SOS) at posttest. Result showed that the SOS was internally consistent. The SOS total scores were significantly related to measures of global satisfaction and the participants' degree of sharing with others, thus giving support to its construct validity. Factor analysis revealed that there were three dimensions of the scale and the related subscales were significantly correlated among themselves. Based on the significant relationships between the SOS measures of perceived program effectiveness and posttest CPYDS scores as well as changes in CPYDS scores, the present study revealed the convergence of subjective outcome evaluation findings and objective outcome evaluation findings in the P.A.T.H.S. Project.
Highlights
Subjective outcome evaluation or the client satisfaction approach is a popular approach utilized by human service professionals to assess the perceptions of the clients regarding the program, including its format, implementation process, workers and benefits
The present study provides some support for the construct validity of the subscales in the Subjective Outcome Scale (SOS)
The three measures of domain-specific subjective outcomes were significantly related to measures of global satisfaction and the participant’s readiness to share his/her learning experiences with others
Summary
Subjective outcome evaluation or the client satisfaction approach is a popular approach utilized by human service professionals to assess the perceptions of the clients regarding the program, including its format, implementation process, workers and benefits. Despite its popular usage in different service contexts, including the fields of education and social welfare, there are many criticisms against the use of this approach in program evaluation. The clients may not tell the truth, creating biases in the findings. As those who return the feedback forms are those who stay until the end of the program, there will be completion bias involved. It would be difficult to obtain random samples based on the program participants.
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