Evaluation Review

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click Here for More Information

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Crano, W. D.
Right arrow Articles by Messé, L. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Crano, W. D.
Right arrow Articles by Messé, L. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Evaluation Review, Vol. 9, No. 2, 144-172 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/0193841X8500900204

Assessing and Redressing Comprehension Artifacts in Social Intervention Research

William D. Crano

Texas A&M University

Lawrence A. Messé

Michigan State University

The failure of many complex social interventions can be attributed to a lack of comprehension on the part of respondents with respect to the appropriate behavioral response. This research details the means by which such "comprehension artifacts" can be detected and offset. The study employed data obtained from a large-scale electric rate demonstration experiment, in which treatment group subjects'rates were tied to the time of day at which they used electricity. Standard analytic approaches suggested no treatment influence on respondents' usage behavior. However, reanalysis disclosed that the rate variation manipulation had a considerable impact on those who could be identified as having understood the complex features of the treatment. This article details a methodology for discriminating knowledgeable from nonknowledgeable respondents, and outlines the manner in which this categorization can be validated in secondary analysis settings. In addition, the use of the empirically derived categorization as a "blocking "variable is discussed, along with a consideration of alternative methodologies. In research involving complex social interventions, the suggested approach can provide information of considerably greater precision than that obtained through more traditional analytic techniques.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?