Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
Chapter 6
Multiple Choice
1. _____ refers to the process of collecting the outcomes needed to determine whether
training is effective.
a. Training evaluation
b. Program design
c. Performance appraisal
d. Needs assessment
2. Which of the following statements best differentiates formative evaluation from summative
evaluation?
a. Formative evaluation mainly involves collecting quantitative data, whereas summative
evaluation involves collecting qualitative data.
b. Formative evaluation takes place on the completion of training, whereas summative
evaluation takes place during program design and development.
c. Formative evaluation focuses on how to make a training program better, whereas
summative evaluation helps to determine the extent to which trainees have changed after
training.
d. Formative evaluation includes measuring the monetary benefits that a company
receives from a training program, whereas summative evaluation measures beliefs and
opinions of the trainees.
3. Formative evaluation involves collecting qualitative data about a training program from
trainees mainly through:
a. their opinions and feelings about the program.
b. measures of performance such as volume of sales.
c. tests and ratings of their behavior.
d. the return on investment method.
4. The evaluation process ideally begins with:
a. developing outcome measures.
b. choosing an evaluation strategy.
c. developing measurable learning objectives.
d. conducting a needs analysis.
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
5. The _____ training outcome is collected to determine whether trainees are using training
content back on the job.
a. reaction
b. learning
c. cognitive
d. result
6. According to Kirkpatrick’s framework for categorizing training outcomes, _____ outcomes
are level 1 criteria that are often called class or instructor evaluations.
a. learning
b. reaction
c. skill-based
d. affective
7. Which of the following types of training outcomes are collected when trainees are asked to
rate their level of satisfaction with the trainer at the end of a training program?
a. Result
b. Cognitive
c. Reaction
d. Behavior-based
8. Typically, _____ are used to assess cognitive outcomes.
a. attitude surveys
b. observations
c. focus groups
d. pencil-and-paper tests
9. Which of the following is an affective outcome collected in a training evaluation?
a. Learners’ satisfaction with training
b. Customer service orientation
c. Increased production
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
d. Reduced costs of production
10. If a firm measures its sales volume before and after a training program, it is typically
assessing the _____ outcome.
a. reaction
b. behavior-based
c. learning
d. results
11. Which of the following is true of return on investment (ROI)?
a. It is referred to as level 3 evaluation in Kirkpatrick’s framework for categorizing
training outcomes.
b. It refers to comparing sales activity before and after a training program.
c. Dollar value of productivity divided by training costs reflects return on investment.
d. The method of measurement for return on investment typically involves tests, surveys,
and interviews.
12. Behavior or skill-based outcomes are best measured by _____.
a. surveys
b. interviews
c. focus groups
d. observations
13. If a manager believes that a training program is valuable and hence provides higher ratings
of job performance to those trainees who attended the training program, then the training
outcomes will lack relevance due to _____.
a. criterion contamination
b. criterion deficiency
c. criterion irreducibility
d. criterion maturation
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
14. _____ refers to the ease with which training outcome measures can be collected.
a. Reliability
b. Practicality
c. Acceptability
d. Relevance
15. Appropriate training outcomes need to be discriminative which implies that:
a. tests given to employees before and after a training program should differ.
b. trainees should be asked to take a reliable test that includes items for which the
meaning or interpretation change over time.
c. trainees’ performance on the outcome should actually reflect true differences in
performance.
d. different employees should be given different tests for measuring their performance on
the same outcome.
16. If trainers are interested in the generalizability of a study’s results to other groups and
situations, then they are said to be interested in the _____ of the study.
a. outcome practicality
b. criterion relevance
c. external validity
d. outcome believability
17. Which of the following is a threat to internal validity?
a. Characteristics of trainees influence program effectiveness.
b. Being evaluated causes participants to try harder in training program.
c. Trainees pay extra attention to material on a test before training.
d. Training group differs from comparison group on individual differences that influence
outcomes.
18. Which of the following statements is true of comparison groups?
a. The use of a comparison group poses a threat to internal validity.
b. Comparison group consists of a group of employees who do not attend the training
program.
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
c. Employees in a comparison group have personal characteristics that are different from
other trainees.
d. Use of a comparison group in training evaluation increases the possibility that changes
found in the outcome measures are due to factors other than training.
19. Which of the following statements is true of random assignment?
a. It assigns employees to a training program without considering their individual
differences.
b. It results in an unequal distribution of individual characteristics such as age, gender,
and motivation in the comparison group and the training group.
c. It increases the effects of employees dropping out of the study (mortality).
d. It increases the differences between the training group and comparison group in ability,
knowledge, skill, or other personal characteristics.
20. A firm that aims at improving readily observable outcomes such as productivity by
collecting related data at periodic intervals both before and after training is typically
applying the _____ evaluation design.
a. Solomon four-group
b. pretest/post-test
c. return on investment
d. time series
21. _____ is a time period in which participants no longer receive training intervention.
a. Regression
b. Mortality
c. Reversal
d. Maturation
22. Which of the following statements is true of Solomon four-group evaluation design?
a. It is mainly used by companies that are uncomfortable with excluding certain
employees or that intend to train only a small group of employees.
b. It is an evaluation design in which pre-training outcomes are completely ignored.
c. It combines both pretest/post-test comparison group and post-test-only control group
design.
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
d. Relative to the other evaluation designs it is more economical and takes lesser time to
conduct.
23. Evaluation designs without pretest or comparison groups are most appropriate when:
a. information regarding training effectiveness is not needed immediately.
b. companies are interest in determining how much change has occurred.
c. a company has a strong orientation toward evaluation.
d. a company is only interested in whether trainees have achieved a certain proficiency
level.
24. ROI analysis is best suited for training programs that are:
a. attended by few employees.
b. inexpensive and have limited visibility.
c. focused on an operational issue.
d. one-time events.
25. _____ refers to concrete examples of the impact of training that show how learning has led
to results that a company finds worthwhile and managers find credible.
a. Utility analysis
b. Success case
c. Return on expectation
d. Outcome practicality
1. The influence of training is largest for organizational performance outcomes and weakest
for financial outcomes.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
2. Pilot testing refers to the process of previewing the training program with potential trainees
and managers or with other customers.
a. True
b. False
3. Formative evaluation usually involves collecting quantitative data through tests or
objective measures of performance.
a. True
b. False
4. In Kirkpatrick’s five-level framework for categorizing training outcomes, the levels
indicate the importance of the outcomes.
a. True
b. False
5. Results belong to the level 1 criteria in Kirkpatrick’s framework for categorizing training
outcomes.
a. True
b. False
6. A pencil-and-paper test is ideal for measuring skill-based outcomes.
a. True
b. False
7. A reliable test includes items for which the meaning or interpretation does not change over
time.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
8. Outcome measures are perfectly related to each other.
a. True
b. False
9. If instructional objectives identify business-related outcomes such as increased customer
service, then reaction outcomes should be used in the evaluation.
a. True
b. False
10. Reaction and cognitive outcomes do not help determine how much trainees actually use
training content in their jobs.
a. True
b. False
11. No evaluation design can ensure that the results of the evaluation are completely due to
training.
a. True
b. False
12. The believability of study results refers to external validity.
a. True
b. False
13. A comparison group refers to a group of employees who participate in the evaluation study
but do not attend the training program.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
14. The Hawthorne effect refers to employees in an evaluation study performing at a low level
because of the attention they receive.
a. True
b. False
15. Evaluation designs without pretest or comparison groups are most appropriate when
companies are interested in determining how much change has occurred in trainees.
a. True
b. False
16. The Solomon four-group design combines the pretest/post-test comparison group and the
post-test-only control group design.
a. True
b. False
17. Return on investment (ROI) is used to show a training program’s cost effectiveness before
it has been delivered.
a. True
b. False
18. It is necessary to limit return on investment analysis only to certain training programs as it
can be costly.
a. True
b. False
19. Once the costs and benefits of the training program are determined, ROI is calculated by
dividing return or benefits by costs.
a. True
b. False
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
20. A training activity dashboard does not provide a perspective of future learning.
a. True
b. False
Short Answer/Essay
1. Why is it important to evaluate a training program?
2. Describe the evaluation process for training.
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation
3. Identify the ways to minimize threats to validity.
4. What conditions require a company to consider a rigorous evaluation design (pretest/post-
test with comparison group)?
5. How does workforce-analytics help determine the value of learning activities?
Chapter 06 – Training Evaluation