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CLASSIFICATION AND MONITORING
Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
College of Public and Community Service
University of Massachusetts at Boston
©2006 William Holmes
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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
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ASSIGNMENT 3THEORETICFAL BASIS 1
• Utilitarianism
• Economic Materialism (Capitalism and Marxism)
• Socialization
• Symbolic Interactionism
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ASSIGNMENT 3THEORETICFAL BASIS 2
• Psychoanalytic
• Biosocial
• Cognitive Psychology
• Systems Theory
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ASSIGNMENT 3STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES 1
• Utilitarianism—emotions and role of values
• Materialism—wealth, altruism, and religion
• Socialization—learning and motivation
• Symbolic Interactionism—physical vs. social reality
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ASSIGNMENT 3STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES 2
• Psychoanalytic—individualism and society
• Biosocial—biology and free will
• Cognitive Psychology—anticipation and spontaneity
• Systems Theory—interconnected units
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ASSIGNMENT 2 PRESENTATIONS
• Identify self
• Identify program and goals
• Summarize descriptive procedures used
• Discuss strengths and weaknesses
• Propose some improvements
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WE CLASSIFY IN MONITORING BECAUSE IT
• Reveals Structure
• Reveals Process
• Promotes Effectiveness
• Promotes Efficiency
• Provides Meaningful Distinctions
• Aids Decisionmaking
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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
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ISSUES IN USING NATURAL CATEGORIES
• Completeness—are some overlooked?
• Exclusiveness—do some overlap?
• Consistency—are they logically consistent?
• Dimensionality—are they unidimensional or multidimensional?
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USES OF CATEGORIESFOR ASSESSING MERIT
• Clarification of criteria for merit
• Triage, referral, and diversion
• Conformance with standards
• Success recognition
• Failure assessment
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USES OF CATEGORIESFOR IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES
• Classifying as best practice
• Forensic analysis of best practice
• Forensic analysis of worst practices
• Dissemination of successes
• Discouraging for failures
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USES OF CATEGORIESFOR OVERSIGHT AND COMPLIANCE
• Targeting prescribed categories
• Avoiding proscribed categories
• Simplified reporting
• Simplified evaluation
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PROCEDURES FOR CREATING CATEGORIES 1
• Inductive versus deductive procedures
• Expert Judgments
• Natural Categories
• Qualitative versus quantitative procedures