Goal Attainment Scaling
Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a method for measuring the outcomes of an individualized intervention by writing, in advance, a small set of client-specific goals and defining for each a graded scale of possible outcomes from much worse than expected to much better than expected. After the intervention, the actual outcome on each goal is scored on this scale and the scores are combined into a single standardized index, allowing idiosyncratic, personally meaningful goals to be aggregated and compared across clients and programs. It was introduced by Thomas Kiresuk and Robert Sherman in 1968 to evaluate community mental health programs.
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Sources
- Kiresuk, T. J., & Sherman, R. E. (1968). Goal attainment scaling: A general method for evaluating comprehensive community mental health programs. Community Mental Health Journal, 4(6), 443–453. DOI: 10.1007/BF01530764 ↗
- Kiresuk, T. J., Smith, A., & Cardillo, J. E. (Eds.). (1994). Goal Attainment Scaling: Applications, Theory, and Measurement. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN: 9780805814040
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Goal Attainment Scaling for Individualized Outcome Measurement. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/social-work/goal-attainment-scaling
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