Navy Quality of Life (QOL) Program Contributions to Readiness and Career Intentions. Volume 2. Pilot Study Results

摘要

Quality of Life (QOL) decision-makers need complete and accurate information that will help them determine if funded QOL programs are actually contributing to positive perceptions of Navy life, and which of them have the greatest impact. Specific program assessments were designed to supplement the Navy's QOL Domain survey with specific data on how well individual QOL programs meet the needs of Navy personnel. Data from over 10,700 QOL program patrons at three Navy Fleet concentration areas (i.e., Hampton Roads Virginia, Southern California, and Yokosuka Japan) were collected over a 6-month period. Results from this study support the conclusions from Kerce et al. (1999) that the QOL program evaluation approach, employing outcome items at two different levels - one at the program level examining program- specific outcomes and one examining higher-order outcomes, is a viable approach for evaluating a broad array of programs This report also provides results that can be used to evaluate several QOL programs on a common metric - patron ratings of program quality, ratings of how well programs meet patron QOL needs, and how patrons rate the program's impact on their readiness (results related to program-specific outcomes can be found in Appendices B through F). Strengths and limitations of this program evaluation approach are discussed.