1 CLASSIFICATION AND MONITORING Performance Monitoring and Evaluation College of Public and Community Service University of Massachusetts at Boston ©2006 William Holmes

2 ASSIGNMENT 3: REQUIREMENTS Causal assumptions regarding people and services Theoretical basis Strengths and weaknesses of theoretical basis Example of how changing causal assumption would change program Pros and Cons of changing assumption

3 ASSIGNMENT 3 THEORETICFAL BASIS 1 Utilitarianism Economic Materialism (Capitalism and Marxism) Socialization Symbolic Interactionism

4 ASSIGNMENT 3 THEORETICFAL BASIS 2 Psychoanalytic Biosocial Cognitive Psychology Systems Theory

5 ASSIGNMENT 3 STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES 1 Utilitarianism—emotions and role of values Materialism—wealth, altruism, and religion Socialization—learning and motivation Symbolic Interactionism—physical vs. social reality

6 ASSIGNMENT 3 STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES 2 Psychoanalytic—individualism and society Biosocial—biology and free will Cognitive Psychology—anticipation and spontaneity Systems Theory—interconnected units

7 ASSIGNMENT 2 PRESENTATIONS Identify self Identify program and goals Summarize descriptive procedures used Discuss strengths and weaknesses Propose some improvements

8 WE CLASSIFY IN MONITORING BECAUSE IT Reveals Structure Reveals Process Promotes Effectiveness Promotes Efficiency Provides Meaningful Distinctions Aids Decisionmaking

9 LIMITATIONS OF CLASSIFYING Meaning of categories may be unclear Categories may be incomplete (not exhaustive) Categories may overlap (not be exclusive) Breaks between categories may be arbitrary Differences may be continuous, rather than discrete There may be sub-categories

10 ISSUES IN USING NATURAL CATEGORIES Completeness—are some overlooked? Exclusiveness—do some overlap? Consistency—are they logically consistent? Dimensionality—are they unidimensional or multidimensional?

11 USES OF CATEGORIES FOR ASSESSING MERIT Clarification of criteria for merit Triage, referral, and diversion Conformance with standards Success recognition Failure assessment

12 USES OF CATEGORIES FOR IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES Classifying as best practice Forensic analysis of best practice Forensic analysis of worst practices Dissemination of successes Discouraging for failures

13 USES OF CATEGORIES FOR OVERSIGHT AND COMPLIANCE Targeting prescribed categories Avoiding proscribed categories Simplified reporting Simplified evaluation

14 PROCEDURES FOR CREATING CATEGORIES 1 Inductive versus deductive procedures Expert Judgments Natural Categories Qualitative versus quantitative procedures

15 PROCEDURES FOR CREATING CATEGORIES 2 Choice of qualitative procedures—observation, content analysis, a priori Choice of quantitative procedures—cluster analysis, factor analysis Choice of deductive taxonomies