Qualitative evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: Findings based on focus groups with student participants

Abstract

This paper reports a qualitative evaluation study conducted to explore the perceptions of students joining the Tier 1 Program of the P.A.T.H.S. Project. A total of 92 students were randomly selected to participate in ten focus groups, which provided qualitative data for the study. With specific focus on how the informants described the program, the descriptors used were primarily positive; the metaphors named by the informants that could stand for the program were basically positive. Program participants also perceived the program to be beneficial in different psychosocial domains. The present study lends further support to the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in promoting holistic development in Chinese adolescents. KEYWORDS: focus groups, adolescents, qualitative evaluation, positive youth development program INTRODUCTIONWith an origin in marketing and social science, focus groups have emerged as a popular tool for generating qualitative data and are used across a wide variety of disciplines and applied research areas [1]. The mushrooming use of focus groups is evident in the number of citations of focus groups particularly in health research since 1980s [2]. In addition, Morgan[3], in his review of online databases, reported that focus groups appeared in 100 academic journal articles per year throughout the decade and he also provided instances of focus groups being utilized as a primary data source, as supplementary to survey data, and in multi-method studies combining with other methods. Given the breadth of possible applications of focus groups and its extensive use, much has been written about what focus groups are. A very straightforward definition of focus groups by Morgan and Spanish[4] is 'as a qualitative method for gathering data, focus groups bring together several participants to discuss a topic of mutual interest to themselves and the researcher ' (p.253). Similarly, Basch[5] defined the focus groups as 'a qualitative research technique used to obtain data about feelings and opinions of small group of participants about a given problem, experience, service or other phenomenon ' (p.414). Expanding on these definitions, Morgan and Krueger [6] added that focus group is a 'carefully planned series of discussions designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, nonthreatening environment ' (p.18). Their definition highlighted that focus groups require This is the Pre-Published Version.thorough planning in advance and the importance of non-threatening settings as well as free participation of the participants in the group context. Along the same line, Heary and Hennessy [7] also defined focus groups as thoroughly planned discussions among participants that enable the moderator to obtain individuals' perceptions in a permissive, non-threatening environment. The definition underscores the importance of the moderator who is commonly the main instrument to elicit the information in a focus group interview.As argued by Morgan and Krueger[8], the dec...

Qualitative Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: An Integration of Findings Based on Program Implementers

“…Qualitative evaluation has also been conducted in order to understand the program effects of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong based on the perspective of the program participants [23, 24]. The related findings were integrated and presented in another paper by Shek and Sun in this special issue.…”

Process Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Program in Hong Kong Based on Different Cohorts

“…The Full Implementation Phase aims at executing the programs in full force. Several lines of evidence support the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program, including the evaluation findings based on randomized group trials [48, 49], subjective outcome evaluation [50], qualitative findings based on focus group interviews with program implementers and students [51], interim evaluation [52], analyses of the weekly diaries of students [53], and case studies [54]. The evaluation findings based on different evaluation strategies indicate that the Project P.A.T.H.S.…”

Qualitative Evaluation of Project P.A.T.H.S.: An Integration of Findings Based on Program Participants

“…Finally, the program participants perceived many beneficial effects of the program in different psychosocial domains. Similarly, Shek and Lee [18] conducted 10 focus groups comprising 88 students recruited from 10 schools in order to understand the perceptions of students participating in the Tier 1 Program of P.A.T.H.S. Project.…”