Papers by Charles Reichardt
American Journal of Evaluation, Jan 6, 2022
Evaluators are often called upon to assess the effects of programs. To assess a program effect, e... more Evaluators are often called upon to assess the effects of programs. To assess a program effect, evaluators need a clear understanding of how a program effect is defined. Arguably, the most widely used definition of a program effect is the counterfactual one. According to the counterfactual definition, a program effect is the difference between what happened after the program was implemented and what would have happened if the program had not been implemented, but everything else had been the same. Such a definition is often said to be linked to the use of quantitative methods. But the definition can be used just as effectively with qualitative methods. To demonstrate its broad applicability in both qualitative and quantitative research, I show how the counterfactual definition undergirds seven common approaches to assessing effects. It is not clear how any alternative to the counterfactual definition is as generally applicable as the counterfactual definition.
... Present were not only the Northwestern University contingent (including, if memory serves, Bo... more ... Present were not only the Northwestern University contingent (including, if memory serves, Bob Boruch, Tom Cook, Al Erlebacher, Chip Reichardt, Jerry Sacks, David Rindskopf, Jay Magidson, Bill Trochim, Jerry Ross, Joe Cecil, Jim MacMillen, John Burns, and others), but also ...
Routledge eBooks, Jul 14, 2020
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, May 1, 2009
Objective: To conduct and evaluate an educational/consultation program for parents and teachers o... more Objective: To conduct and evaluate an educational/consultation program for parents and teachers of children who have acquired brain injury (ABI). Participants: Parents, regular and special educators, and related school personnel of 30 students who had ABI and serious school problems. Intervention: BrainSTARS (Brain Injury: Strategies for Teams and Re-education for Students), an individualized consultation program that includes a comprehensive manual on pediatric ABI. The intervention included 3 meetings in the school of the child identified with ABI. Design: A pre/post single group design assessed the impact of BrainSTARS on ABI-related competencies in the adult participants as well as on measures of child behaviors. Results: Significant improvement was shown in the participants' self-rated proficiency in working with children who have ABI as well as on their ratings of student performance in targeted neurodevelopmental areas. There was no significant change on standardized measures of child behavior (the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions and the Behavior Assessment System for Children). Conclusions: BrainSTARS appears to increase the competencies of parents and educators related to students who have ABI; further study of BrainSTARS' impact on student performance and capacity to produce long-standing results is called for.
American Psychological Association eBooks, 1991
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 8, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Sep 1, 2021
Observational studies, 2018
wrote, "If both proponents and critics have to watch their P's and Q's, we might hope that it wou... more wrote, "If both proponents and critics have to watch their P's and Q's, we might hope that it would be easier to achieve broad agreement on scientific issues." Bross then went on to offer a ground rule (i.e., one of the P's and Q's) explicitly for critics of research hypotheses, though he emphasized (pp. 399-400) the "same ground rules should apply to both" proponents and critics. I have two purposes. First, to quibble with Bross about his ground rule. And second, to propose another ground rule. Bross argues that alternative explanations should be judged tenable before they are allowed to see the light of day. And for an alternative explanation to be judged tenable, it must agree with available data. Certainly this is correct. Except that agreement with available data is not an infallible indicator of the adequacy of an explanation. Consider Darwinian evolution. Significant data argued against Darwins theory at the time it was proposed . For example, the best available evidence was that the earth was far too young, even according to Darwin's own account, for species to have evolved per natural selection. And the fossil record was too sparse providing too little evidence of the intermediate life forms that Darwin required. Plus Darwin's theory was at odds with well accepted contemporary thinking. Even T. X. Huxley, who was one of Darwin's staunchest supporters, believed Darwin was wrong about the rapidity with which evolution took place. Huxley, a saltationist, believed evolution happened suddenly rather than gradually. So was Darwin's alternative explanation for evolution in sufficient agreement with available data, and therefore sufficiently tenable, to permit publication according to Bross? Or consider the work of Ingaz Semmelweis. When Ingaz Semmelweis was hired as a physician at the Vienna General Hospital in 1846, as many as twenty percent of the women giving childbirth in the hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic died from puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever. Semmelweis was determined to discover the cause. He uncovered a telling clue when a colleague cut his finger while performing an autopsy and died from symptoms similar to puerperal fever. Based on that evidence, Semmelweis hypothesized that the disease was caused by contamination from "cadaverous material" and found his hypothesis could explain another mystery. The First Obstetric Clinic at Vienna General had a much higher death rate from puerperal fever than the Second Clinic. The difference? The First Clinic was attended by physicians who often performed autopsies before serving on the obstetrics ward; the Second Clinic was attended by mid-wives, who did not perform autopsies. Acting on his hypothesis, Semmelweis instituted a policy that physicians wash their hands in a solution of chlorinated lime before examining patients. Occurrences of c
Evaluation, Apr 1, 1998
As I mention above, one of the great services this book offers is the demythologizing of the tech... more As I mention above, one of the great services this book offers is the demythologizing of the technical dimension of method by the inclusion of users in decisions about the way method is linked to evaluation outcomes and thus use. Patton considers it axiomatic that he should work with primary stakeholders to consider the strengths and weaknesses of major design and measurement possibilities. This frame enables a sanguine and optimistic stance on the so-called paradigm debate or paradigm wars which have entered evaluation folklore. He offers a 10-part analysis of the reasons for the ‘withering’ of this debate. I will identify two developments from the list which appealed to me and give readers a feel for the judicious tone of the discussion:
American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Sep 1, 1995
Medical rehabilitation needs better understanding of the effectiveness of its treatments and of p... more Medical rehabilitation needs better understanding of the effectiveness of its treatments and of patient characteristics most responsive to alternative intervention strategies. The goal of this paper is to improve understanding of research design in medical rehabilitation. More specifically, it describes two potentially rigorous but infrequently used "quasi-experimental" research designs--the regression-discontinuity design and the multiple interrupted time-series design. These are contrasted with the strongest research design--the randomized experiment--and to weaker designs, such as the nonequivalent group designs. Pre-experimental research, including qualitative, descriptive, and predictive studies, should not be confused with experimental research designs. More frequent use of randomized experimental and strong quasi-experimental designs can provide knowledge that will augment the effectiveness of rehabilitation practice.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, Mar 1, 1995
This study examined the characteristics of homeless women with substance abuse problems. Data wer... more This study examined the characteristics of homeless women with substance abuse problems. Data were collected on a sample of 323 homeless substance abusers. First, 49 women and 274 men were compared to demonstrate distinct problems and treatment needs of the women. Results showed that the women were more likely than the men to abuse drugs, but less likely to receive substance abuse treatment. In addition, women spent more time in doubled-up living arrangements, and were more likely to receive outpatient psychiatric treatment. Second, two subgroups of women were compared: those who had been homeless for 6 months or less, and those who had been homeless longer than 6 months during their lifetime. The women who had been homeless longer were less educated, younger when they first became homeless, and were more likely to abuse alcohol, to have been assaulted, and to have attempted suicide. Implications for research and treatment are discussed.
Evaluation Practice, Aug 1, 1988
effects of social programs. Three topics that the volume addresses are particularly interesting. ... more effects of social programs. Three topics that the volume addresses are particularly interesting. First, the volume introduces the notion of an &dquo;outcome line.&dquo; An outcome line is a causal chain specifying how program activities are presumed to lead to program outcomes via a sequence of subobjectives. Mohr shows how to use outcome lines to determine the best questions to ask about program impact and to develop theory to guide both the program and its evaluation. Second, the volume presents a novel quasi-experiment called the &dquo;random-comparison-group design,&dquo; which is a variation of the &dquo;nonequivalent-control-group design&dquo; (Cook & Campbell, 1979). The suggested design requires that a comparison group be selected randomly from the same population from which a treatment group is selected nonrandomly. Mohr provides an example of the design, describes the assumptions that must be made to analyze data from the design, and proposes an analysis strategy that produces a range of treatment effect estimates for a specified level of confidence. Third, the volume emphasizes the use of subobjectives. A subobjective is a proximal outcome by which a program produces the distal outcomes that are ofgreatest interest. For example, reducing the amount of fat in a diet and increasing the amount of exercise might be subobjectives in a program intended to reduce the incidence of heart disease. One of the chapters in the volume focuses on formative evaluation so as to explicate the use of subobjectives in discovering how a program works and how it can be improved. A separate chapter explains how to use subobjectives to strengthen summative conclusions. In general, the
SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, 2009
New Directions for Evaluation, Jun 1, 2011
I give four criticisms of the Shadish, Cook, and Campbell (2002) typologyof validity. An alternat... more I give four criticisms of the Shadish, Cook, and Campbell (2002) typologyof validity. An alternative typology is proposed that avoids these criticisms. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.
Elsevier eBooks, 2000
ABSTRACT Time-series data can be applied to an array of different research purposes and analyzed ... more ABSTRACT Time-series data can be applied to an array of different research purposes and analyzed with a variety of statistical techniques. In the present chapter, we focus primarily on the interrupted time-series design and on autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) statistical analyses in a social science context. Advantages of interrupted time-series (ITS) designs include that they can be used to (1) estimate the effects of a treatment when only a single individual, or on a single aggregated unit such as a city, is available for study, (2) reveal the pattern of the treatment effect over time, and (3) provide an estimate of the treatment effect without withholding the treatment from anyone who is eligible to receive it. Researchers need to be careful that the somewhat arcane nature of the statistical analysis of time-series data not lead to an overemphasis on statistical technique and correspondingly to a failure to recognize threats to validity. In addition to ITS designs, the present chapter has also noted other uses of time-series data, including assessing the degree and nature of change, forecasting, and assessing covariation (and perhaps) causal linkages between two or more time-series variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
American Psychological Association eBooks, 2012
SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, 2008
The document referenced below is part of the NCJRS Library collection. To conduct further searche... more The document referenced below is part of the NCJRS Library collection. To conduct further searches of the collection, visit the NCJRS Abstracts Database. ... DESIGNED TO PRESENT NOTABLE, PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED WRITING ON TOPICS OF CURRENT ...
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Papers by Charles Reichardt