Analyzing program cause as well as effect: a methods for program analysis.

Abstract

Measuring the impact of therapeutic recreation services appears to be a major concern in the field. While effects and outcomes are of primary importance in determining service delivery impact, of equal importance is the documentation and evaluation of the intervention program presumed to cause the effect. Very little attention has been directed toward methods of analyzing intervention programs prior to attempting research studies which search for cause and effect relationships. Additionally, within research studies which purport to measure service delivery impact and effect, very little information tends to be given on the nature and structure of the intervention program that supposedly led to such effects. Thus, the Program Plan Description Form is presented as a method of program analysis to aid in the applied research process of analyzing the impact of therapeutic recreation service delivery programs.