Outcome Evaluation & Surveys Flashcards

A CPM wants to establish that changes in mentee self-efficacy are attributable to the mentoring program. The strongest evidence for this claim comes from:

Answer: A randomized controlled study comparing mentored and non-mentored groups

Randomized controlled studies provide the strongest causal evidence by controlling for selection bias and confounding factors.

In survey design, 'response options should be mutually exclusive' means:

Answer: No two answer choices should overlap in meaning

Mutually exclusive options ensure that no two choices describe the same thing, preventing respondent confusion and invalid double selections.

Which practice best increases survey completion rates in a mentoring program evaluation?

Answer: Keeping the survey brief, relevant, and communicating how results will be used

Short, relevant surveys with a clear purpose and communicated impact consistently produce higher voluntary completion rates.

What is the purpose of using a validated instrument (e.g., a published mentoring scale) rather than a custom-built survey?

Answer: They provide established reliability and validity evidence across prior studies

Validated instruments come with documented psychometric properties, giving evaluators confidence that scores are consistent and measure what they claim to measure.

A mentor program reports that 90% of mentees 'met their goals.' Without knowing how goals were set or measured, this statistic is limited because:

Answer: Goal-setting rigor and measurement criteria are unknown, affecting interpretability

Without knowing whether goals were challenging or how achievement was determined, the statistic cannot be meaningfully interpreted or compared.

Which term describes the degree to which an evaluation instrument produces consistent results across repeated administrations?

Answer: Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency of measurement—a reliable instrument yields similar scores when administered under the same conditions multiple times.

After analyzing mentoring outcome data, a CPM discovers one subgroup of mentees consistently underperforms. The most ethical and effective next step is to:

Answer: Investigate root causes and adapt the program to better serve that group

Ethical evaluation practice requires using findings to improve program equity by understanding and addressing the causes of differential outcomes.