Consequences of survey modification in a program evaluation: An exploratory research on evaluation study.

The purpose of this exploratory research on evaluation study was to examine how modified and unmodified scales of critical thinking and interest in science careers would affect the evaluation conclusions. Surveys measuring various outcomes that are used in program evaluation are frequently modified from their original versions in response to the unique context of programs. Modifying existing published surveys by removing or adding items can affect the psychometric properties of the original scale and may produce differing results. The results of the comparisons found that unmodified and modified surveys had similar reliabilities; however, one of the scales produced contradictory evaluation findings. Lessons learned from this study suggest that scales can be modified in evaluation, but great care is needed to address the potential strengths and limitations of the modified scale and balance the technical needs with responsiveness to program context.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between symptom severity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and executive function.

INTRODUCTION: Some studies of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) find executive dysfunction, whereas others do not. We meta-analytically examined the association between executive function and PTSD and used meta-regression to examine the potential moderating effect of PTSD severity on executive function. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We identified published peer-reviewed articles containing measures of executive function and PTSD symptom severity in subjects with PTSD compared to trauma-unexposed controls or trauma-exposed controls without PTSD, or both. We calculated an effect size for each study containing at least one measure of executive function and PTSD symptom severity. RESULTS: PTSD subjects for whom the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) score was available had worse executive function compared to both trauma-unexposed controls (g = 0.464, p < .001) and to trauma-exposed controls without PTSD (g = 0.414, p = .001), as did PTSD subjects for whom the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M-PTSD) score was available (g = 0.390, p < .001). Neither CAPS nor M-PTSD scores significantly moderated the effect size of executive function. CONCLUSIONS: PTSD is associated with executive dysfunction, but this association was not moderated by PTSD symptom severity, suggesting that once PTSD occurs, executive dysfunction may occur regardless of PTSD severity.