as well as the five major categories of outcomes that can be measured to evaluate training effectiveness. The five outcomes (cognitive, skill-based, affective, results, and ROI) used in evaluating training programs were explained. Good training outcomes need to be relevant, reliable, discriminate, and practical. Next, threats to both internal and external validity were discussed. Various evaluation designs were explained with an emphasis on related costs, time, and strength. Return on Investment (ROI) and cost-benefit analysis were explained, and examples given. The chapter concluded with a listing of key terms, discussion questions,The company’s management would need to be made aware of the investment made by the company for the training and the need to summatively evaluate it to determine if the training program is effective, and formatively evaluate it to identify its strengths and weaknesses to better accomplish training. Evaluation is vital to improving a training program, or deciding whether to replace it completely with a better program or a non-training option. (p. 217-218) 2. What do threats to validity have to do with training evaluation? Identify internal and external threats to validity. Are internal and external threats similar? Explain. Answer: If threats to validity exist, the evaluator may question whether a training program was really effective or if possible benefits were the result of other factors. Internal threats to validity affect the believability of the study, while threats to the external validity affect the believability of the program’s benefits for future use. Characteristics of the company, the outcome measures, and the persons in the evaluation study are the internal threats to validity. Reaction to pretest, reaction to evaluation, interaction of selection and training, and interaction of methods are the external threats to validity. Internal and external threats are not similar. Threats to external validity relate to how study participants react to being included in the study and the effects of multiple types of training, whereas internal validity provides confidence that the results of the evaluation are due to the training program and not to another factor. (p. 232) 3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the following designs: posttest-only, pretest/posttest comparison group, pretest/posttest only? Answer: 6-9
