Multi-Stage Longitudinal Comparative Design Stage II Evaluation of the Changing Lives Program: The Life Course Interview (RDA-LCI)

• NCJ Number: 222444
• Journal: Journal of Adolescent Research Volume: 23 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 310-341
• Author(s): Lisa Lewis Arango; William M. Kurtines; Marilyn J. Montgomery; Rachel Ritchie
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 32 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For other articles in this issue, see NCJ222439-43 and NCJ-222445-46.

Annotation

This article reports on a Multi-Stage Longitudinal Comparative Design Stage II evaluation conducted as a preliminary test of a method for evaluating the Changing Lives Program (CLP), which is an intervention for achieving positive development among troubled youth attending Miami's alternative schools.

Abstract

The study provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the qualitative measures under development as well as the usefulness of unifying qualitative research methods (e.g., open-coding, theoretical sampling/saturation, etc.) and quantitative research methods (e.g., quasi-experimental designs, advanced statistical analysis, psychometric analysis, etc.), as well as procedures for evaluating intervention programs. The evaluation involved the use of an open-ended Life Course Interview to obtain data from each youth pertinent to his/her positive development. These data were then analyzed with a procedure called "relational data analysis" (RDA), which enables interview data to be measured for evidence of transformational change as well as the identification of factors related to any change that occurred. The data reported in this study were collected under a short-term preintervention/postintervention nonrandomized comparison control quasi-experimental research design. Twenty-two youth who participated in the CLP, a multifaceted counseling program for youth in alternative schools, composed the intervention group; and 10 youth who had never participated in the CLP constituted the control group. The Life Course Interviews (LCIs) conducted with the 32 youth built on Clausen's (1998) pioneering work on the use of life reviews and life stories in life-course research. The LCIs elicited participants' narrative descriptions of their life-course experiences, focusing on the meaning and significance of participants' experiences of self and identity across their life courses. This article describes the RDA procedures used in analyzing youths' response in the LCIs. 2 tables and 18 references