Evaluating psychological change in physical education programmes: Some problems of multiple interpretations

The article focuses on psychological change and in particular on the problem of measuring changes in individual perceptions resulting from programmes devoted to health, physical fitness and sport skills development. First, the utility for the area of physical education of a typological framework developed in organizational psychology is examined. Next, the problem of multiple levels of change which may confound the evaluation process is addressed; and finally, it is argued that the detection of multiple rather than unitary levels of change as a result of sport, exercise or health programmes, has implications for the measurement and management of outcomes by physical educators. Although the proposed change typology has implications for evaluation procedures regarding any intervention in sport, exercise and health contexts, the main concern is with physical fitness behaviour.