Utilization Isn't Everything

Authors

  • Heather Holley Calgary General Hospital Calgary, Alberta
  • Julio Arboleda-Florez The University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.3.007

Abstract

This article examines an unanticipated problem associated with the successful implementation of the “utilization-focused” method of evaluation described by Patton. The study involved the development and evaluation of a suicide screening instrument for use by the Alberta Solicitor General's Department. To maximize the possibility that these results would be useful, a utilization-focused approach was adopted. We will describe the evolution of the project over a series of stages, from identifying stakeholders to preparing a final report. Although this method improved utilization of results, the enthusiasm generated created a Hawthorne effect, making it difficult to meet the study's original objective of assessing the validity of the screening process. We discuss the process rather than the content of this evaluation, and the problems encountered, in a way that highlights some of the inevitable trade-offs involved in applied research

Downloads

Published

1988-09-01

How to Cite

Holley, H., & Arboleda-Florez, J. (1988). Utilization Isn’t Everything. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 3(2), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.3.007

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (1988): Fall

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 1988 Heather Holley, Julio Arboleda-Florez

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation agree to release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 (CC-BY-NC) license. This licence allows this work to be copied, distributed, remixed, transformed, and built upon for any purpose provided that appropriate attribution is given, a link is provided to the license, and changes made were indicated.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the journal right of first publication.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.