ABSTRACT
In any application of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) decisions are required on a variety of issues, such as who will be responsible for setting goals, who will follow-up on the goals and record levels of attainment, how will recorded levels of attainment be scored, should the client be included in the goal-setting process or follow-up activities, how can we be sure that goals will be scaled realistically and will be relevant to the client’s treatment, and so on. In this chapter, possible options are discussed and recommendations are made for different types of applications. Although the following discussion distinguishes between clinical applications on the one hand and research or evaluation applications on the other, that distinction is only for expository convenience. Many applications do not fit neatly into one category or the other. Certainly we do not pretend that research studies and evaluation applications are equivalent, but we do expect that most decisions made with respect to the issues presented here will be similar in either situation. After many years of working with and studying GAS, we have developed some strong conclusions and opinions regarding most of these issues. Consequently this chapter has a somewhat pedantic tone or style regarding what should or should not be done in applications of GAS. Nevertheless, the reader should note that GAS has been successfully used in many settings that, in one or more ways, did not follow our recommendations. Many of the studies cited throughout this book suggest that GAS can provide useful data under less stringent conditions. The main purpose of this chapter is to assist users in determining which issues and which choices may be relevant to their respective situations.
