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Use of Group Designs in Program Evaluation

Group programs are common in social work. Just as with other types of programs, social workers must understand the options available to them and know how to select the appropriate research design.

For this Discussion, you evaluate group research design methods that can be used for an outcome evaluation of a foster parent training program. You also generate criteria to be measured in the program.

To prepare for this Discussion, review the “Social Work Research: Planning a Program Evaluation” case study in this week’s resources, Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Retrieved from http://www.vitalsource.com , and the section of “Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with Very Limited Resources”, titled “Overview of Methods to Collect Information.”

· Post your explanation of which group research design and data collection method from those outlined in the Resources you selected as appropriate for the “Social Work Research: “Planning a Program Evaluation” case study and why.

· Then, generate criteria to be measured using the research design by identifying a specific outcome and a method for measuring that outcome. Specify who will collect the data and how the data will be collected.

References (use 3 or more)

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

· Chapters 9, “Is the Intervention Effective?” (pp. 213–250)

· Chapter 10, “Analyzing Evaluation Data” (pp. 255–275)

My IAT results were that I have a slightly automatic preference to Gay People over Straight people, I believe my results are pretty accurate. I like to believe in equality that everyone deserves and should be treated as equal no matter who they identify as, who they love, what religion they are etc.

Interview somebody of preference to straight people and answer the following question…

For this discussion assignment you will need to interview at least one member of the selected ‘out-group.’ In this case, the ‘out-group’ is the sexuality that your results indicated implicit bias toward. You must ask your interviewees the same set of questions (below). You must conduct your interviews in a respectful manner. During the interview, make sure you listen and think before you speak, imagine that a camera is recording your actions (would the recording portray you as humble, respectful, and empathetic?), and project kindness onto your interviewee. You will NOT submit the full Q&A as part of the discussion assignment.

1. What does it mean to you to be a member of this group?
2. When and how did you become aware of your membership in this group?
3. Do you believe there are stereotypes associated with your group? If so, what are these stereotypes, and when did you become aware of them?
4. Have you been personally affected by prejudice, racism, discrimination, or bias as a result of being a member of this group?
5. What suggestions can you offer to encourage mutual respect among various groups?
6. What would you like others to know about being a member of your group?

After conducting your interviews, discuss the following. Keep in mind your IAT results related to sexuality from last week:

1. What did you learn about your biases in this area from the interviews you conducted?
2. What else can you do to help reduce and/or eliminate any biases you may have?

Must be atleast 500 Word count

CATASTROPHE THEORY… OCCURS WHEN? WHAT DOES THE GRAPH LOOK LIKE

• Arousal: is a blend of physiological and psychological activity in a person and it refers to the intensity dimensions of motivation at a particular moment. It ranges from not aroused, to completely aroused, to highly aroused; this is when individuals are mentally and physically activated.
• Performance increases as arousal increases but when arousal gets too high performance dramatically decreases. This is usually caused by the performer becoming anxious and sometimes making wrong decisions. Catastrophes is caused by a combination of cognitive and somatic anxieties. Cognitive is the internal worries of not performing well while somatic is the physical effects of muscle tension/butterflies and fatigue through playing.
• The graph is an inverted U where the x line is the arousal and the y is the performance. Performance peaks on the top of the inverted U and the catastrophe happens in the fall of the inverted U

This is a brief description on the theory cover this in detail about ronaldo and how this applies when he plays football 2 pages

2nd concept

HIGH TRAIT ANXIETY ATHLETES… HOW DO THEY PERCEIVE COMPETITION?

get some quotes on him mentioning competition and how he perfromance in it

• Anxiety: is a negative emotional state in which feelings of nervousness, worry and apprehension are associated with activation or arousal of the body
• Trait Anxiety: is a behavioral disposition to perceive as threatening circumstances that objectively may not be dangerous and to then respond with disproportionate state anxiety.
• Somatic Trait Anxiety: the degree to which one typically perceived heightened physical symptoms (muscle tension)
• Cognitive Trait Anxiety: the degree to which one typically worries or has self doubt
• Concentration Disruption: the degree to which one typically has concentration disruption during competition

People usually with high trait anxiety usually have more state anxiety in highly competitive evaluative situations than do people with lower trait anxiety. Example two athletes are playing basketball and both are physically and statistically the same both have to shoot a final free throw to win the game. Athlete A is more laid back which means his trait anxiety is lower and he doesn’t view the final shot as a overly threatening. Athlete B has a high trait anxiety and because of that he perceives the final shot as very threatening. This has an effect on his state anxiety much more than expected in this specific scenario. 

HIGHLY SKILLED ATHLETES EXPERIENCE LESS STATE ANXIETY AND MORE CONFIDENCE

• State Anxiety: an emotional state characterized by subjective consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension accompanied by or associated with activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system.
• Cognitive State Anxiety: moment to moment changes in worries and negative thoughts
• Somatic State Anxiety: moment to moment changes in perceived physiological arousal
• Perceived Control State Anxiety: the degree to which one has the resources and ability to meet challenges

Example player playing basketball at the start of the game he or she may have a slightly elevated level of anxiety before tip off ( nervous  feeling heart pumping), lower level once he/she settles into the pace of the game, and then an extremely high level in the closing minute of the game (feeling nervous with his/her heart racing)

HOW ATHLETES PERCEIVE THEIR ANXIETY AND PERFORMANCE

• There is a direct relationship between a person’s level of trait anxiety and state anxiety. Research shows that the athletes who score high on trait anxiety measure a high state anxiety in competition. But this varies a highly trait anxious athlete may have a lot of experience in a particular situation and therefore not perceive it as a threat and have a high state anxiety.

Mention all this of the second concept and how it motivates ronaldo all these concepts need to be covered in detail to get a good understanding of ronaldos motivations and how he performs under pressure and how he deal with it 2 pages with quotes from him and sources

4 STAGE COMPETITIVE PROCESS/ OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE COMPETITIVE SITUATIONS/ MOST IMPORTANT DETERMINANT OF INTRINSIC MOTIVATION= SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF PERFORMANCE

1. The objective competitive situation

• The persons objective and goal is set
• Martens states that it is better studied when the objective is told to another person

Example Athlete A runs a mile in 8 min and his goal is to hit under 8 today this is competition because only you are aware of the standard of excellence you are striving to beat. Marthens run with a friend and tell him that his goal is to run under 8 min the situation would be competitive because your friend is aware of the criteria.

1. The subjective competitive situation

• How the person perceives, accepts, and appraises the objective competitive situation

Example Athlete A is looking forward in competing in the UEFA Champions League, whereas another athlete, Athlete B which is facing the same objective situation may not be looking forward to competing 

1. The response

• If the decision is not to compete then the response stops there
• Response to compete can occur at the behavioral, physiological or psychological level or at all three levels

Example Behavioral what type of opponent you might want to fight with whether it’s a tough opponent, easy, or better than you. Physiological level heart starts to beat faster and your hands become cold and clammy. Psychological motivation confidence, can be internal or external. 

1. The consequences of the response

• Are seen as either positive or negative
• The perception of the consequence is more important than the objective outcome

Example Athlete A loses the match the athlete might still perceive the outcome as positive if he played well and met his own standard of excellence.

1 page

All the pages are double spaced

• Watch the movie A Beautiful Mind.
• Find a peer-reviewed journal article in support of effective treatment options for schizophrenia.

he Assignment (2–3 pages):

• Describe how Nash’s symptoms of schizophrenia are presented in the film, including behavioral descriptions of his positive, negative, and/or psychomotor symptoms as appropriate.
• Review the ways theorists explain schizophrenia using psychological and sociocultural factors (not biological), and offer your conceptualization of Nash’s development of schizophrenia from these two perspectives.
• Based on your conceptualization above, what treatment options would you recommend? (Be sure to include at least one journal article in support of your chosen treatment options.) What type(s) of treatment(s) did Nash experience?
• Is the success Nash experienced in managing his disorder common or uncommon for individuals who face symptoms of schizophrenia or a diagnosis of schizophrenia?

If using alternate articles:

• Describe Frese’s symptoms of schizophrenia presented in the articles, including behavioral descriptions of his positive, negative, and/or psychomotor symptoms as appropriate.
• Review the ways theorists explain schizophrenia using psychological and sociocultural factors (not biological), and offer your conceptualization of Frese’s development of schizophrenia from these two perspectives.
• Based on your conceptualization above, what treatment options would you recommend? (Be sure to include at least one journal article in support of your chosen treatment options.) What type(s) of treatment(s) did Frese experience?
• Is the success Frese experienced in managing his disorder common or uncommon for individuals who face symptoms of schizophrenia or a diagnosis of schizophrenia?

Creating a Professional Resumé

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please be sure to complete your initial post for the Initial Call discussion and review the Résumé resources provided on the Ashford Career Services website.

For this assignment, you will create a professional résumé from the point of view of the mental health professional involved in the Initial Call discussion scenario. Taking on this role, create a one-page résumé using the resources provided by Ashford Career Services.

Once you have completed your résumé, review the characteristics of the patient you chose for the Initial Call discussion. Consider how reading the résumé might have impacted the patient’s initial call. Evaluate how the reported symptoms and presenting problems may have been impacted by the content and presentation of your résumé, had the patient read this on your website prior to contacting you. Create this one- to two-paragraph evaluation on a new page in the same document as your résumé. Submit the document with the résumé and evaluation to Waypoint.

The Creating a Professional Résumé assignment

• Must be one to two pages in length (not including title and references pages) and must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least two peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

The Social World: Presentation

Thus far, we have considered the major themes of social psychology: social thinking, social relations, and social influence.  In this interactive assignment, we will integrate knowledge from all three areas to provide a comprehensive analysis of a social movement, issue, event, or idea.

To inform your thinking on this topic, begin by reading “The Self System in Reciprocal Determinism” (Bandura, 1978) and “Social Action” (Synder & Omoto, 2007), and peruse The Stanford SPARQ Solutions Catalog (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..  In addition, review “Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations” (Bourne, 2007) and “Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation” (Erren & Bourne, 2007).

Then, identify a current or historical social movement (e.g., the Tea Party, Black Lives Matter, the Reformation, etc.), issue (e.g., gay marriage, school choice, abortion, slavery, etc.), event (e.g., the 2016 Presidential election, the Rwandan genocide, the Bubonic Plague, etc.), or idea (e.g., democracy, the nuclear family, peace, etc.).  Create a multimedia presentation (e.g., a video, poster, etc.) that depicts the selected topic in enough detail that classmates, even with no prior knowledge, will gain a basic understanding.  (For additional guidance, review a guide for creating Presentations (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., available through the Ashford Writing Center.).  Your presentation should apply psychological insight from at least two of the three areas covered thus far in the course (social thinking, social relations, and/or social influence) to analyze relevant social factors.  In your presentation, interpret social psychological theory and research, including the concept of reciprocal determinism in relation to this social movement, issue, event, or idea.  Describe research methods used to investigate relevant phenomena and summarize actual or hypothetical applications of social psychological insight.   Employ knowledge from social psychology to identify specific careers or disciplines that might be especially well suited to addressing the underlying issues in your example.  Be sure to maintain an objective stance.  (In other words, if you select a social issue, avoid sharing your opinion regarding the “right” or “wrong” view.  Your classmates should not be able to determine your personal views based on what you post.).

You must include a both a multimedia component (e.g., link to or embedded PowerPoint, screencast, video recording, etc.) and a transcript or other written component that fully explains the audio or visual elements. Please utilize APA style to format your transcript or other written component. Upload the completed assignment (including both the multimedia component and the written component) into Waypoint.  Next week, you will share your presentation with your classmates in a discussion forum.

Utilize a minimum of five credible scholarly sources to inform your thinking on the topic, in addition to required course resources as applicable.  Additional credible references are encouraged.

Note to Students: This assignment requires that you produce a visual presentation, supply a spoken audio narrative, and to listen the audio narrative of others.  Note you are also asked to provide a transcript of your presentation.  If you have a documented disability accommodation that might interfere with your ability to complete this assignment, you may contact your instructor to develop a comparable alternative assignment.  If you have other issues that you feel may be a barrier to your ability to complete this course or this assignment please contact the Office of Access and Wellness at: access@ashford.edu.

REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (1978). The self system in reciprocal determinism. American Psychologist, 33(4), 344-358.

Bourne, P. E. (2007). Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLoS Computational Biology, 3(4), e77. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077

Erren, T. C., & Bourne, P. E. (2007). Ten simple rules for a good poster presentation. PLoS Computational Biology, 3(5), e102.

Snyder, M., & Omoto, A. M. (2007). Social action. In A. W. Kruglanski  & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles, (2nd Ed), 940-962.

For this assignment you do not need to do a screen-cast!!! Just submit a transcript outlying each power point slide in detail.