Surface Data and Deep Structure: Observing the Organization of Professional Training

Abstract

December 1979, volume 24 Directors and managers of professional training programs want to know whether they are effective. To find out, evaluation instruments, questionnaires, and scales are used often at considerable expense which promise to measure what the trainees have mastered or how they have changed. These devices often produce surface data that describe certain attributes of the candidates but say nothing about the underlying structure of the training program and how well it is working. The usual evaluation produces data on individuals to answer questions about the organization. Often directors of programs want to know how their training affects behavior but get data on attitudes. The evaluation instruments usually contain preconceived artificial questions or probes that do not measure the natural development of trainees as they progress through the program.