The design and evaluation of social policies requires information systems that enable social intervention with the people targeted by the programmes and services and that also offer indicators for the follow-up and monitoring of the policies adopted. The article presents the process of validation of a tool for diagnosing situations of social difficulty arising from social exclusion. The scale has been implemented in one of Spain’s seventeen Autonomous Communities and has been selected on the basis of Good Practice under the European Social Fund. Expert judges were consulted for content validity; the metric properties of the scores obtained by the scale were examined and an exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) was performed to study the internal structure. The results show that the scale has adequate levels of content validity, construct validity and internal consistency. The SiSo Scale supplies a synthetic index of Social Position, providing professionals with the technical tools needed to carry out social diagnoses and simultaneously giving valid and reliable information on the social condition of people in a situation of social exclusion, which can guide social policy decision-making.

Social isolation of older adults is difficult to break through, and interventions that focus on network development or enhanced social participation are hardly effective, especially when the older adults have been isolated for a long time and have problems in multiple life domains. This study aimed to investigate the needs and subjective experiences of this less-researched group and obtain a deeper understanding of their goals and priorities. The study involved a qualitative study with 25 socially isolated persons who receive assistance from a social worker in an individual guidance trajectory. Data were collected via repeated in-depth interviews with the older adults. By directing the focus towards their subjective experiences, the study gives insight into the ‘experiential effectivity’ of the intervention. It shows what their experienced problems were, and to what degree they benefited from the intervention in this respect. The experience of personal attention and involvement of the social workers represents the most relevant results for them. The participants have no need for network development or engagement in local communities. Yet, the help offered by the social workers produces other results for them, such as solved practical problems, emotional support, more self-sufficiency, a point of contact or a safety net that was not there before. This knowledge can help to improve the quality of intervention for this target group.

This exploratory study involved a structured group-games intervention to develop first-grade students’ social competence. The effects were evaluated by assessing possible outcomes for the children's social status. A sample of 119 first-grade, mixed-ability students from a Hong Kong primary school participated in the sessions (63 boys, 56 girls: mean age 74 months). Sessions were led by trained parent-volunteers and involved a 60-minute session each week for 8 weeks in the children's own classrooms. Peer nominations were used before and after intervention to assess participants’ social status under five possible categories ― popular, rejected, controversial, neglected and average. Improvement in children's social awareness and social status was noted following the intervention. Children's competence in playing group games was found to be positively correlated with their social acceptance. The findings support the value of early social intervention in classrooms as a practical way for preparing first-grade students for primary school life.

Considering the many theoretical and methodological viewpoints in the field of evaluation, a guideline was established to facilitate the evaluation of social intervention programs. For this purpose, the goals of the evaluation were taken into account: (a) planning interventions, (b) learning and continuous improvement of interventions, (c) programming policies, and (d) transformation of society. These goals will determine the perspective of the analysis selected (focusing on the evaluand or the context) and the strategies for change employed (focusing on processes or results). The elements that, according to Shadish, Cook, and Levinton (1991), constitute the theory of evaluation (evaluand, value, building of knowledge, and uses) have also been considered. The analysis of all these components led to the elaboration of a guideline to orient the practice of evaluation from a pragmatic perspective, in accordance with the demands and needs of a certain social context.