| Summary: | M.A. === The treatment of substance abuse remains a challenging process with relapse an ever-present risk. For those offering treatment within this field, such as the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA), it is of cardinal importance to evaluate the outcomes of their interventions. Currently, there is no quantifiable and standardised method that SANCA can use to establish and assess how the actual outcomes of their programmes compare to their intended programme goals. Kranz and O’Hare (2006) argue for the evaluation of substance abuse treatment programmes through the use of scales to quantify various aspects of the treatment process which can then serve as a measure of its effectiveness. Effectiveness in this instance refers broadly to a patient’s maintenance of his/her sobriety for a period of 12 months or more, combined with an increase in his/her general functioning. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate the technically complex process of developing a content valid framework for a scale on behalf of SANCA that adheres to their requirements for programme evaluation. The study is guided by an adapted model of ecometric scale development presented schematically by Faul and Hudson (1999). Through the use of a grounded theory approach, the study shows how to identify the expectations for a scale in the organisation and organise SANCA’s treatment strategy into a framework within which the areas of measurement can be placed. The study then demonstrates the construction of operational assessment areas through empirical data collection that adequately reflects such expectations. It also serves to test for content validity of the assessment areas, through the application of domain sampling theory. The study reveals the process undertaken to convert those assessment areas into constructs by conceptualising and operationalising them into working definitions. Lastly, drawing on those defined constructs, it populates a series of exemplar items designed for illustrative purposes.
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