85400 - Design and Evaluation of Interventions

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will: - know main approaches to intervention design and evaluation tools in organizational settings - be able to design and evaluate interventions in Organizational Psychology.

Course contents

1. Design of interventions and design of intervention evaluation

2. Evaluation processes and principles (main aspects, basic models, formative and summative evaluations, realistic evaluation)

3. Research designs for the evaluation of WOP interventions (quasi experimental and longitudinal designs, within subjects and single case design)

Readings/Bibliography

a) Owen, J.M. (2007) Program evaluation: forms and approaches, New York: Guilford Press, 3. Ed. (chapters 1-3) or, alternatively, Posavac, E.J., Carey, R.G. (2007) Program evaluation : methods and case studies, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Carey and Associates, 7. ed. (chapters 1-3) (both books are available in the Psychology library)

b) Komaki J., Goltz S. (2001) Within-group research designs: going beyond program evaluation questions, in Merle Johnson, Redmon, Mawhinney, Handbook of organizational performance, New York: Haworth Press (pp. 81-86, 92-106).

c) Pawson R. & Tilley N. (2004) Realist evaluation (available on moodle platform)

Teaching methods

The course will use one or more of the following teaching methods:

- lectures,

- a case simulation.

- small group discussions,

- students’ oral presentation.

Assessment methods

Learning will be evaluated by:

1) Group presentation of an intervention proposal, resulting from the analysis of an organizational case, whoise information will be collected during an interview to stakeholders. The project will have to clarify what is the aim of the intervention, the characteristics and details of the intervention.

2) an individual reaction paper on an empirical paper based on the evaluation of an intervention.

Teaching tools

The course will use one or more of the following teaching methods:

- lectures,

- simulation,

- group case study.

Office hours

See the website of Salvatore Zappalà