Section Sixperformance.^55 A final point on evaluation criteria is that when
measuring the effectiveness of training methods, such as
lectures, behavioral modeling, role-plays, and so on, the choice
of evaluative criterion makes a difference. In other words, the
effectiveness of different training methods depends on the type
of criterion to be measured in the evaluative process. For
example, a comprehensive meta-analysis of 70 studies by
Michael Burke and Russell Day found that when objective
performance standards are applied, evaluations of general
management training indicate that it is usually quite effective.
These findings differ from the conclusions of evaluations
applying learning and subjective behavioral criteria.^56
In addition to the criteria used, it is critical to have an
appropriate and practical research design that guides the
collection of data and the choice of measures of the evaluative
criteria. The potential contaminants to valid measurement of
training effectiveness must be eliminated or controlled through
use of an appropriate research design. Both experimental and
quasi-experimental designs can be used in a wide range of
evaluative applications. Two experimental designs have
particular relevance to the assessment of training effectiveness
in many organizational settings. Experimental designs are
presented in Table 6-1.
Table 6-1