Child Life Program Evaluation:

1
Child Life Program Evaluation The Importance of
Choosing Appropriate Tests and Measures
Joan Turner, PhD., CCLS Nicole Graham, MS,
CCLS Toni Crowell, MS, CCLS Laura Gaynard, PhD,
CCLS Evidence-Based Practice Committee
This presentation describes key concepts related
to the identification and evaluation of measures
appropriate for the assessment of child life
interventions and programs. The importance of
clarification of research questions,
identification of measurable concepts, the
assessment of psychometric properties and a guide
to finding existing measures will be illustrated.

Finding existing measures
Research Methods 101 Child Life professionals
have very specific goals and outcomes of interest
related to their programs and interactions with
children, families, and other professionals. The
questions that arise from daily practice can be
answered through the process of
research. Research Questions Starting with the
selection of an area of interest, research
questions and/or hypotheses can be further
developed through a systematic review of related
literature. Primary sources, such as peer
reviewed journal articles are published with the
aim of informing and educating the reader. This
process allows the researcher to glean a range of
useful information for proceeding with a specific
study. The way you ask your question will
determine the way you go about measuring your
concepts of interest. Measurement People make
informal judgments everyday. Formal measurement,
however, requires the assignment of values to
specific variables of interest. The term
variable means that the general class or
category of interest can take on more than one
value and be measured, e.g., Gender male or
female e.g., Child life specialists provide
care for children Strongly agree, agree,
undecided, disagree, strongly disagree Methods
of measurement vary Tests achievement tests,
attitude tests, personality tests Observation
techniques duration, frequency, interval,
continuous recording Questionnaires self report,
open-ended, forced choice, checklists Interviews
structured, semi-structured Physiological
measures blood pressure, cortisol Many
standardized or established tests, observations
scales, questionnaires and interviews are
available. Most have documented reliability and
validity two psychometric properties that
provide evidence of a good measure. If a poor
measure is developed or applied, the results of
the study may be insensitive, spurious, or
incorrect. Reliability consistency,
dependability, stability. Reported using a
reliability coefficient r. (r .80 - .90 is
considered acceptable). Validity accuracy,
soundness, measures what it is designed to
measure (rather than some other construct).
Reported as a matter of degree, from low to high
validity. Validity must be interpreted relative
to the context in which the measure is applied.

Examples from the Literature