Scriven Case Study - Assignment #2

The model I would use for the case study is the Scriven approach.  The Scriven approach focuses on goals and outcomes of a program.  It also focuses on looking at the reasons for the program and identifying the motivation of those involved.  I felt this approach would be most beneficial as it would allow the evaluator to look at a few key components of the program.  Firstly, it would be important to look at what the intended goals of the fitness program were before it began.  There is not a lot of information provided on what the program was hoping to achieve.  There were general and very broad goals but no expectations for numbers of participants or goals for achievement.  This approach would help to identify if the program was meeting its goals by clearly laying out what they were hoping to achieve.  At first glance, the number of participants would indicate that the program was very unsuccessful based on what numbers they were hoping to participate.  Unfortunately, we don’t really know those numbers and what methods were used to advertise the program.  Perhaps this could have been an initial flaw for the program.  Secondly, there are no fitness goals to be able to correlate to decreased chance of developing diabetes.  It’s hard to meet a goal and project an outcome, from a medical point of view, if there isn’t information to identify what fitness accomplishments would increase the chances of less acquired diabetes cases.

I also felt that the motivation of all people involved would be an interesting concept to investigate.   There is no mention of who decided this program was needed and who agreed to develop and run the program.  Part of the success of establishing a program of this nature is identifying the need for the participants involved and having motivated staff to implement the instruction and guidance.  If the participants didn’t find the exercise, nutrition, and education on diabetes valuable to them then they would be very unmotivated to follow through with the program.  I would not include this information in an evaluation, but it seems as though someone else decided this program was necessary and did not poll or survey aboriginal women to decide if this was a program that is needed or would be utilized by the intended participants if created.  It seems like the need by participants should have been the guiding influence on the creation of this program.  In addition, if staff members, who likely already have enough work to handle, are “forced” to implement a program that they don’t believe in or wish to participate in then the entire morale and motivation from the staff would influence the participants.

This model seems to be the most appropriate for deciphering the intended goals and objectives of the program and following them through to see if they meet the outcomes.  By carefully investigating the goals, outcomes, and role motivation, using the Scriven method, an evaluation would be able to efficiently outline the positives and negatives of this particular program.