IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/evarev/v31y2007i1p43-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Devil Is in the Details

Author

Listed:
  • Allison Gruner Gandhi

    (American Institutes for Research)

  • Erin Murphy-Graham

    (University of California, Berkeley)

  • Anthony Petrosino

    (WestEd)

  • Sara Schwartz Chrismer

    (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

  • Carol H. Weiss

    (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

Abstract

In an effort to promote evidence-based practice, government officials, researchers, and program developers have developed lists of model programs in the prevention field. This article reviews the evidence used by seven best-practice lists to select five model prevention programs. The authors’ examination of this research raises questions about the process used to identify and publicize programs as successful. They found limited evidence showing substantial impact on drug use behavior at posttest, with very few studies showing substantial impact at longer follow-ups. The authors advocate additional long-term follow-up studies and conclude by suggesting changes in the procedures for developing best-practice lists.

Suggested Citation

  • Allison Gruner Gandhi & Erin Murphy-Graham & Anthony Petrosino & Sara Schwartz Chrismer & Carol H. Weiss, 2007. "The Devil Is in the Details," Evaluation Review, , vol. 31(1), pages 43-74, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:31:y:2007:i:1:p:43-74
    DOI: 10.1177/0193841X06287188
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0193841X06287188
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0193841X06287188?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carol H. Weiss, 1989. "Congressional committees as users of analysis," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(3), pages 411-431.
    2. Ellickson, P.L. & Bell, R.M. & McGuigan, K., 1993. "Preventing adolescent drug use: Long-term results of a junior high program," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 83(6), pages 856-861.
    3. Perry, C.L. & Williams, C.L. & Veblen-Mortenson, S. & Toomey, T.L. & Komro, K.A. & Anstine, P.S. & McGovern, P.G. & Finnegan, J.R. & Forster, J.L. & Wagenaar, A.C. & Wolfson, M., 1996. "Project Northland: Outcomes of a communitywide alcohol use prevention program during early adolescence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(7), pages 956-965.
    4. Gorman, D.M., 1994. "Preventing adolescent drug use: the effectiveness of Project ALERT," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(3), pages 500-501.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gorman, Dennis M. & Conde, Eugenia, 2010. "The making of evidence-based practice: The case of Project ALERT," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 214-222, February.
    2. D.M. Gorman, 1998. "The Irrelevance of Evidence in the Development of School-Based Drug Prevention Policy, 1986-1996," Evaluation Review, , vol. 22(1), pages 118-146, February.
    3. Dennis M. Gorman & J. Charles Huber Jr, 2009. "The Social Construction of ``Evidence-Based'' Drug Prevention Programs," Evaluation Review, , vol. 33(4), pages 396-414, August.
    4. Ji Yan & Sally Brocksen, 2013. "Adolescent risk perception, substance use, and educational attainment," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(8), pages 1037-1055, September.
    5. Jonathan Lewallen & Sean M. Theriault & Bryan D. Jones, 2016. "Congressional dysfunction: An information processing perspective," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 179-190, June.
    6. Pannell, David J., 2004. "Effectively communicating economics to policy makers," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 48(3), pages 1-21.
    7. Gorman, D. M., 2002. "Defining and operationalizing `research-based' prevention: a critique (with case studies) of the US Department of Education's Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools Exemplary Programs," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 295-302, August.
    8. Dana L. Wenter, MPH & Sondra Blackwell, MEd & Kevin C. Davis, MA & Matthew C. Farrelly, PhD, 2002. "American Legacy Foundation, Using Multiple Strategies in Tobacco Use Prevention Education," University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education qt6bk9b677, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco.
    9. Sechrest, Lee & Sidani, Souraya, 1995. "Quantitative and qualitative methods: : Is There an Alternative?," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 77-87.
    10. Richard F. Catalano & M. Lisa Berglund & Jean A. M. Ryan & Heather S. Lonczak & J. David Hawkins, 2004. "Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 591(1), pages 98-124, January.
    11. Sager, Fritz, 2018. "Policy evaluation and democracy: Do they fit?," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 125-129.
    12. Bundi, Pirmin, 2018. "Parliamentarians’ strategies for policy evaluations," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 130-138.
    13. Suhail Ahmad Bhat & Mushtaq Ahmad Darzi & Iqbal Ahmad Hakim, 2019. "Understanding Social Marketing and Well-being: A Review of Selective Databases," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(2), pages 75-87, June.
    14. David L. Weimer, 2002. "JPAM reaches majority," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 355-358.
    15. Lundin, Martin & Öberg, PerOla, 2012. "Towards reason: political disputes, public attention and the use of expert knowledge in policymaking," Working Paper Series 2012:4, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    16. Timothy J. Beebe & Patricia A. Harrison & Anu Sharma & Scott Hedger, 2001. "The Community Readiness Survey," Evaluation Review, , vol. 25(1), pages 55-71, February.
    17. Emily McKenzie & Stephen Posner & Patricia Tillmann & Joanna R Bernhardt & Kirsten Howard & Amy Rosenthal, 2014. "Understanding the Use of Ecosystem Service Knowledge in Decision Making: Lessons from International Experiences of Spatial Planning," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(2), pages 320-340, April.
    18. Eberli, Daniela, 2018. "Tracing the use of evaluations in legislative processes in Swiss cantonal parliaments," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 139-147.
    19. Walker, Tom & Ryan, Jim & Kelley, Tim, 2010. "Impact Assessment of Policy-Oriented International Agricultural Research: Evidence and Insights from Case Studies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1453-1461, October.
    20. Beau Kilmer & Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, 2010. "Preventing Drug Use," NBER Chapters, in: Targeting Investments in Children: Fighting Poverty When Resources Are Limited, pages 181-220, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:31:y:2007:i:1:p:43-74. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.