Customizing Your Client- Information Systems Chapter Three cont…

Interpretation  Forms use forced choice questions or open ended questions  0_________1______2_____3_____4_______5  Can be difficult to interpret these results  Table 3.2 on page 36

Interpretation cont…  Satisfied with the program overall 75%  Met your expectations 72%  Benefited from the program 80%  Recommend program to others 87%  Dissatisfied with exercises 35%  Dissatisfied with facility 52%  Dissatisfied with location 42%

Interpretation cont…  Avoid using yes or no questions to determine the benefits of a program  Numerical ratings do not tell you why people were unhappy  Need open-ended questions to determine why?

Open-Ended Questions  What did you like most about the program?  What did you like least about the program?  If you could change one thing, what would it be?  Comments or suggestions to improve the program?

Open-Ended cont…  How to score open ended?  Response rate for each question  Contradictions will arise  Repeated info is useful for change  Who is filling out the questionnaire?  You can ask for some demographic info such as gender and age and work status

Open-Ended cont…  Confidentiality must be protected  You want honest responses  May use comment boxes or suggestion cards to gain disgruntled views  Interviews with absent members may contain valuable info  Focus groups are important before making major decisions

Summary  Programs need to make use of all info available  Head counts are not enough  Evaluation should collect data you need  Individual records are most important  Develop profiles of new members  70% of reasons for drop-out are controllable  Positive response bias on questionnaires

Questions Page 38  Numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.