Analysis of the 1990 and 1991 Institution-Wide Cohorts: Most Salient Findings and Recommendations

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Analysis of the 1990 and 1991 Institution-Wide

Cohorts: Most Salient Findings and

Recommendations

Andris Ziemelis, Ed.D.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Building upon an analysis of the 1988 Cohort of FIPSE-sponsored

Institution-Wide Drug Prevention Programs in Higher Education, this

project developed useful tools for describing and comparing InstitutionWide Drug Prevention Programs, assessing program trends, and

identifying factors that underlie program success. The project used

inductive methods to analyze program information from the 1990 and 1991

Institution-Wide Cohorts (n=209). Such methods yielded both quantitative

and qualitative results that contributed to knowledge about higher

education drug prevention programs and how they work. Selected project

findings, and recommendations having relevance for prevention

programming and further analyses, are discussed below.

Project Findings

Experience with this project affirmed the notion that analysis of higher

education drug prevention programs is a complex endeavor fraught with

methodological problems and challenges. It reinforced the importance of

conducting large-scale studies that rely on multiple data sources and

search for meaningful consistencies in results. It demonstrated that while

numerous approaches to prevention are promising, more empirical

evidence is needed to unravel the determinants of program success. With

respect to the above, this analysis identified certain trends and themes

within prevention programs that were consistently associated with program

viability and success.

A "new phase" of prevention. One of the most important findings from this

analysis was that programs are moving into a "new phase" of prevention

programming. This was witnessed by increasing program focus on

environmental change, and supplementation of conventional one-sided

informational and awareness strategies with more diverse, creative and

interactive approaches to prevention.

The most salient finding. Related to the above, the most salient finding

was that interactive, relational, and empowering activities for students

were most consistently associated with favorable program outcomes. Such

activities were found to most frequently underlie program status (scope),

program institutionalization, and program effectiveness assessed after the

grant period. They were also significantly associated with program focus

on environmental change, and they largely accounted for shifts in program

emphasis over time.
Analysis of the 1990 and 1991 Institution-Wide Cohorts: Most Salient Findings and Recommendations

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Recommendations

While the above findings have important implications for drug prevention

in higher education, they represent only preliminary indicators of variables

underlying program success. Therefore, additional analyses should be

undertaken to evaluate validity of reported results, assess programs with

greater precision, and identify specific activities and activity combinations

that are most effective in various program settings. Such analyses would

provide a more solid, empirically based, foundation for drug prevention

model development.

Recommendations for Analyses

Based on experience with the current project, accomplishing two

additional tasks would enhance understanding of drug prevention in higher

education and improve prevention efforts. These tasks involve further

refinement of the content analysis system developed in this project, and

development of feedback strategies for programs.

Conduct theme element analysis. Using theme elements to classify

program activities would yield greater precision in prevention program

analysis, improve content analysis reliability, clarify the relationships

between specific prevention activities and outcomes, and facilitate

development of prevention program models.

Provide program feedback. Providing feedback for programs based on

standardized theme and theme element data would give them referents

that not only show how their activities compare with those conducted by

other programs, but also how their activities compare with activity

combinations that work. Such information could prove invaluable in

providing future direction for drug prevention activities. Other

recommendations emerging from this analysis include the following:

Continue data base maintenance. The data bases created by this project

should be updated annually. They provide continuity in tracking programs

and assessing prevention trends, and they support those seeking program

information or data for secondary analyses.

Analyze additional outcomes, and use multi-variate methods. Further

analyses should investigate outcomes beyond those used in this study,

and when appropriate, use multi-variate approaches to unravel the

complex interactions between prevention activity combinations and

program success.

Recommendations for Programs

Improve accountability. Programs should place greater emphasis on

accountability. This analysis showed that activities reflecting the

accountability theme were emphasized least by programs. More emphasis

should be placed on conducting sound formative and summative program

evaluations. Whenever possible, multiple data sources should be used.

Also, particular care should be taken to secure representative samples

when comparing student substance use and use-related statistics over

time.

Assess student needs and preferences. Programs should periodically

assess student needs and preferences regarding drug prevention

programming. In the aggregate, results from this analysis supported

consideration of student developmental needs in program structuring and

operation.

Stress interactive, relational, and empowering activities. Programs should

consider the potential benefits of increasing their emphasis on interactive,
Analysis of the 1990 and 1991 Institution-Wide Cohorts: Most Salient Findings and Recommendations

file:///C|/Users/mames/Desktop/test/lps110655/analysis.html[9/23/2014 11:16:03 AM]

relational, and empowering activities for students. Such activities were

most consistently associated with desired outcomes in this analysis. Also,

inclusion of such activities in prevention programs is consistent with the

notion that adjusting prevention efforts to meet developmental needs of

students is beneficial for both students and programs. Furthermore,

according to program personnel nationwide, program emphasis on such

activities is on the rise.

Consider collective wisdom of experts. The trend in prevention

programming noted in the previous section is particularly meaningful

because it reflects the collective wisdom of drug prevention experts in

higher education. These experts are the Directors and Coordinators of

drug prevention programs, and the students who participate in, and are

influenced by, their drug prevention efforts.

References

Anderson, S.B., Ball, S., Murphy, R.T. (1975) Encyclopedia of educational

evaluation: concepts and techniques for evaluating education and training

programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Collins, L.M. & Horn, J.C. (Eds.) (1991) Best methods for the analysis of

change: recent advances, unanswered questions, future directions.

Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Collins, R.L. and Windle, M. (In press) Secondary Data Analysis:

Advantages, Limitations, and Considerations in Substance Use Research.

In J.E. Trimble, C. Bolek, & S. Niemcryk (Eds.), Conducting cross-cultural

drug abuse research: Emerging strategies and methods. New York, NY:

Haworth.

Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.), (1994) Handbook of Qualitative

Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory,

procedures and techniques. Sage Publications, 1990.

Copyright © 1998 by Andris Ziemelis

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