“Welcome Guests Are Pets” Once a week, Pondview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center residents are treated to a variety of unusual visitors. The VIPs (Volunteers Interested in Pondview) have organized a “Meet the Pets Day” at a nearby facility. Each week, one or more volunteers bring a friendly pet to residents for short one-on-one visits. On a typical day, a dozen or so owners will bring their dogs, cats, and bunnies to Pondview, but hamsters and gerbils are also welcome. Buffy, a lively golden retriever with a wildly wagging tail, made her Pondview debut last week. Buffy managed to bestow at least several “kisses” on Mrs. Rita Williams’ face and hands during a 15-minute visit with the 85-year-old widow recovering from a broken hip. Mrs. Williams stated that she has seen more sedate pets, but she was not dissatisfied with today’s visit. Margaret Collins, the facility administrator, explained that the program was inspired by one she read about in a nearby city. She was relieved that the VIPs had planned the new program. “It gives residents something to look forward to,” she explained. “I believe it increases their alertness and attentiveness. If it really helps the residents’ recovery and improves their mental health, we’ll expand it to several days a week next year.” Create a research project to evaluate “Meet the Pets Day” or your local news paper by answering the following questions.

What is an appropriate research question or hypothesis that your evaluation should seek to answer?

Describe the social program that is available.

Who are the participants in the program?

Who are the other stakeholders besides the program’s participants?

What is the program’s goal or intended outcome?

Describe how you would design an outcome evaluation study to determine if the program was successful in meeting its objectives. Make sure to describe the study design you’d use, your sample, and how you’d measure the dependent variable.

Share your thoughts on the internal validity of the study you designed.

What ethical considerations would you need to make if you wanted to conduct this study?

What are the practical issues (time, money, and access) that you would need to consider if you wanted to conduct th