In a study of a managerial training program, two subsamples of co-workers (supervisors and subordinates) were used to validate the participants' assessments of program impact. Use of subsamples provided support in direction and magnitude of the participants' assessments and generally strengthened the validity of the findings. (TJH)

Factors that influence the sample size necessary for longitudinal evaluations include the nature of the evaluation questions, nature of available comparison groups, consistency of the treatment in different sites, effect size, attrition rate, significance level for statistical tests, and statistical power. (Author/GDC)

This article presents a synopsis of each of seven presentations given at a conference on design and analysis in community trial studies. Papers identify problems with community trials and discuss strengths and weaknesses associated with design and analysis strategies. Areas of consensus are summarized. (SLD)

A method is described for increasing residual degrees of freedom in a community experiment without substantially increasing cost or difficulty by dividing experimental subunits into batches. Theoretical advantages of batch sampling are described and illustrated with data from the Pawtucket Heart Health Program. (SLD)

Electricity conservation programs were implemented in matched pairs of office-classroom-laboratory buildings and dormitories. The methodological problems of predicting consumption levels, interpreting why changes in consumption occurred, and estimating initial waste levels are discussed along with their implications for the conduct of behavioral…

Two studies used experimental data to evaluate nonexperimental methods of program evaluation for employment and training programs. Results of both studies indicated that the nonexperimental methods might not accurately replicate the experimental estimates. Also, new methods for constructing comparison groups yielded little improvement over…

Estimates of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act's net impact on participant earnings, using Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey data, were compared to a similar sample from the Current Population Survey. The use of multivariate matching and weighting yielded acceptable results. (GDC)

This article presents a discussion of field utilization of staff development activities in the context of three separate training programs. Specifically, classroom implementation of knowledge and skills gained by participants in their training sessions was assessed via the Levels of Use (LoU) interview system. (Author/LMO)

Simple methods for detecting attrition (nonresponse) in longitudinal evaluations are reviewed, focusing on regression-based analyses of data from a longitudinal evaluation. The approaches are illustrated with data from the Fort Bragg Evaluation, an evaluation of a major demonstration in children's mental health services. (SLD)

A beverage-server intervention project at two West Coast Navy bases that attempted to reduce levels of alcoholic intoxication via policy changes and server training is described. Data obtained via interviews and structured observations of 1,511 club customers indicate methodological bias and self-selection effects. Bias adjustments were performed…