Program Implementation

1. Respond to the following in a minimum of 75 words: include proper grammar, in text citations and references

According to Spector, one-group designs are all considered non-experimental since they do not involve assignment of subjects to conditions (Spector, 1981). There are three different types of one-group designs; pretest-post test design, interrupted time series, and correlational designs (Spector, 1981). The text only covers 2 one-group designs which are: pre-test post test design and post test only design. The pre-test post test design is mostly used by behavioral researchers to help them determine the result of a treatment given. The pre-test post test design is measured both before and after the treatment is given. It is also used to identify if participants improved during the experiment. The post test only design treatment involves at least two groups, where only one group receives the treatment. The data is then collected and measured to find out the outcome.

A criminal justice scenario where an outcome evaluation is observed before and after the program is enacted is recidivism. Over the last decade, prisons have become overcrowded, causing taxpayers millions of dollars to house offenders. More rehabilitative programs can result in fewer offenders returning to prison.

2. Respond to the following in a minimum of 75 words: include proper grammar, in text citations and references

According to the text, there are two types of one-group designs. The first is the pre-test-posttest design and the second is the posttest design. The pre-test posttest design is the dependent variable is measured once before the treatment is implemented and once after it is implemented (Price, et al., n.d.). The pretest–posttest design is used when stakeholders want to know whether the participants improved while being served by a program (Linfield & Posavac, 2019). The one-group posttest only design, treatment is implemented (or an independent variable is manipulated) and then a dependent variable is measured once after the treatment is implemented (Linfield & Posavac, 2019). This is the most vulnerable type of quasi-experimental design. A major limitation of this design is the lack of a control or comparison group (Linfield & Posavac, 2019). Despite this major limitation, results from this design are frequently reported in the media and are often misinterpreted by the general population (Linfield & Posavac, 2019). The issue is that the only way such national programs can be evaluated is through an analysis of important variables after programs have been implemented (Price, et al., n.d.). If the limitations are thought about such approaches to evaluation, bear in mind that the evaluations of many large-scale, costly government programs are, at best, posttest-only or pretest–posttest designs (Linfield & Posavac, 2019).