In 1988 a comprehensive school based education program to reduce drink driving was introduced state-wide in Queensland. The impact of the program has been evaluated on three occasions and differing levels and types of information sought. The first, at the implementation stage, was of a small sample of the control and intervention schools and compared self reported drink driving attitudes, knowledge, behaviour and experiences. The second was undertaken three years later when students had left school and again was concerned with self reported responses to the program. At this evaluation additional data related to licensing and driving experiences and convictions could be added. The third evaluation completed in 1999 is an outcome study that examined the impact of the program on the officially recorded traffic histories of the control and intervention cohorts. This presentation compares and contrasts the methodological characteristics of these three stages and types of evaluation and discusses the different contributions that each make to our understanding of the impact of educational interventions.
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