5.2 EVALUATING RECREATION SURVEYS - A CHECKLISTPRR 475 Topic Outlines Page 1PRR 475. Evaluation in Parks, Recreation and TourismD. StynesTopic OutlinesTABLE OF CONTENTSI. Evaluation and Research ConceptsII. Research And Evaluation Processes : The Study Plan/ProposalIII. Definition and MeasurementIV. Study Population and SamplingV. Survey Research MethodsVI. Experimental DesignsVII. Other MethodsVIII. Statistics and Data AnalysisIX. Ethical, Social, and Political Issues in Research and EvaluationX. Communicating Results of Research and Evaluation StudiesPRR 475 Topic Outlines Page 2I. EVALUATION & RESEARCH CONCEPTS 1.1. DEFINITION- Evaluation - process of judging merit or worth of something· Evaluation is the systematic assessment of the worth or merit of some object. Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation.· Evaluation research is the systematic application of social research procedures in assessing the conceptualization and design, implementation, and utility of social intervention programs (Rossi & Freeman, p. 20).· Evaluation is the process of ascertaining value by comparing results with objectives and judging how well objectives have been met in a qualitative and quantitative sense. (Lundegren & Farrell 1985).· Evaluation is a set of procedures to appraise a program's merit and to provide information about its goals, expectations, activities, outcomes, impacts, and costs. (Kosecoff & Fink 1982).· The process of determining the value or amount of success in achieving a predetermined objective. It includes at least the following steps: formulation of objectives, identification of the proper criteria to be used in measuring success, recommendations for further program activity. · The process of collecting and analyzing information about a social program, its audience, or its impacts on an audience for the explicit purpose of improving its ability to serve the audience in the intended ways. (Ham 1988)· Evaluation is the process of judging the merit, worth, or value of something. (Carpenter & Howe, Introd to leisure pgmming & pgmming cycle)1.2. PURPOSES OF EVALUATION - Why evaluate ? The "Academic List" "The Real List"· To assess merits of alternative programs. 1. Because we are required to· To discover whether & how well objectives are being fulfilled 2. To make better decisions.· To determine the reasons for successes & failures. 3. To learn from experience· To uncover the principles underlying a successful program. 4. To justify programs· To refine, revise, update or track a program 5. To kill programs2.1. DEFINITION - Research - application of scientific methods to answer questions, controlled inquiry directed at increasing knowledge and establishing truth.· Scientific research is systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of natural phenomena guided by theory and hypotheses about the presumed relations among such phenomena. (Kerlinger)· Marketing research is a formalized means of obtaining information to be used in making marketing decisions. (Tull & Hawkins).· Social research is the systematic examination of empirical data, collected by someone first hand, concerning the social or psychological forces operating in a situation (Monette, Sullivan and DeJong 1990)· Marketing research is the function which links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information -- information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. (American Marketing Assoc.)2.2. Purposes of research Set A Set B1. Answer questions of fact arising from management - applied research 1. Exploratory2. Answer questions for sake of knowing - basic or pure research 2. Descriptive3. Answer questions arising during research - methodological research 3. Explanatory, predictive4. Develop & test new alternatives for management - developmental 5. Assess the worth, merit, or effectiveness of programs - evaluationPRR 475 Topic Outlines Page 33.SCIENCE 3.1. Science may be defined as a body of knowledge or a method of inquiry.AS A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE, science is· systematic - propositions related within a body of theory· abstract - don't explain everything, extract most important features of phenomona under study, · general - seek general laws vs knowledge of isolated events· parsimonious - prefer simpler explanation AS A METHOD OF INQUIRY, science is· logical - hypothetico-deductive system, deductive & inductive logic· self-corrective - iterative search for knowledge, everything open to systematic questioning.· empirical - ultimate test of truth are observations in "real" world.3.2. Scientific Management is the application of scientific principles to management. It entails systematic studyof the system(s)one is managing and application of this information to improve management peformance or to "steer" the system toward a set of goals and objectives. See any text in management for a summary of scientific management theory. Howard & Crompton's Financing, Managing & Marketing Recreation& Park Resources, Chapter 10 summarizes the basic theories of management. As originally formulated by Taylor in early 1900's, scientific management involved experimentation to find the most effective way of doing things, working to standards, planning out work tasks, and systems of inspection and control. A scientific approach is also implicit in human relations, organizational and behavioral approaches to management. Scientific management is also associated with the systems approach,and the fields of management science/operations research, which apply mathematical models to help solve management problems. 3.3. Leisure Science is a term used to describe scientific investigations into leisure behavior. Leisure research includes systematic study of people's leisure behavior, as well as examination of recreation, park and tourism organizations and resources. Leisure science is an interdisciplinary field dominated largely by social science, ie. study of people. Leisure organizations and behaviors have been investigated from psychological, sociological, economic, geographic, political, communications, physiological, anthropological, management, marketing, and natural resource perspectives. Leisure research is largely applied research and borrows heavily from disciplines and related