Goal Attainment Scaling: Applications, Theory, and Measurement

By Kiresuk

There is an extensive literature on Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), but the publications are widely scattered and often inaccessible, covering several foreign countries and many professional disciplines and fields of application. This book provides both a user manual and a complete reference work on GAS, including a comprehensive account of what the method is, what its strengths and limitations are, how it can be used, and what it can offer. The book is designed to be of interest to service providers, program directors and administrators, service and business organizations, program evaluators, researchers, and students in a variety of fields.

No previous account of GAS has provided an up-to-date, comprehensive description and explanation of the technique. The chapters include a basic "how to do it" handbook, step-by-step implementation instructions, frequently occurring problems and what should be done about them, methods for monitoring the quality of the goal setting process, and a discussion of policy and administration issues. There are many illustrations from actual applications including examples of goals scaled for the individual, the specific program, the agency, or the total system. Procedures for training and estimates of training costs are also provided.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898598893
• ISBN13: 9780898598896
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

The Best!

If one accepts the notion that the concepts "qualitative" and "quantitative" fall on a relative continuum, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is the most universally applicable evaluation protocol available to human service practitioners. One can conceptualize problematic issues on a simple ordinal scale, and quantify them. Although the GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING: APPLICATIONS, THEORY AND MEASUREMENT is over 10 years old, it is the single best source for comprehending the practicality of GAS. It offers 11 chapters with varying degrees of complexity. The chapters are entitled: 1. Introduction and Overview 2. Illustrations of Goal Setting 3. Goal Setting, Follow-Up, and Goal Monitoring 4. Applications of Goal Attainment Scaling 5. Training in Goal Attainment Scaling 6. Implementing Goal Attainment Scaling 7. Historical Perspective 8. Conceptual Background 9. Psychometric Issues 10. Reliability of Goal Attainment Scores 11. Perspectives on Validity Thus, the book is useful for those who are beginners in addition to those who wish the employ GAS for advanced research. Anyone who is serious about using GAS with clients should have a copy of this book.