Certified Prevention Specialist CPS Practice Exam

What is a written document describing the overall approach or design that guides an evaluation?

1. Archival Data

2. Control Group

3. Evaluation Plan

4. Experimental Group

The correct answer is: Evaluation Plan

The correct answer is a written document known as the evaluation plan. This document outlines the overall approach and design for conducting an evaluation, detailing objectives, methodologies, data collection methods, and the criteria for assessing the outcome. It serves as a roadmap for how the evaluation will be implemented, ensuring that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the process and goals. In the context of evaluation, archival data refers to pre-existing data collected for other purposes, which may be useful in an evaluation but does not constitute a plan or guide. A control group is a component of experimental designs used to compare against the group receiving the intervention; it does not describe an overall approach. An experimental group is the portion of the study that receives the treatment or intervention being evaluated and, similar to the control group, does not represent a guiding framework for evaluation. Thus, the evaluation plan is the most appropriate choice as it captures the comprehensive design that drives the evaluation process.