What do we mean by choosing questions?
___Evaluation questions are the questions your evaluation is meant to answer about your work
___Evaluation questions help set the direction of the work, as well as assess its effectiveness
___Ideally, choosing evaluation questions is part of the planning of the overall program
Questions to ask yourself as you choose evaluation questions:
___What do you want to know?
___Why are you interested?
___Is the issue you’re addressing important to the community or to the society?
___How does the issue relate to the field?
___Is the issue general, rather than specific to your population or community?
___Who might use the results of your evaluation?
___Whose issue is it?
Why is it necessary to choose evaluation questions carefully?
___It helps you understand what effects different parts of your effort are having
___It makes you clearly define what it is you’re trying to do
___It shows you where you need to make changes
___It highlights unintended consequences
___It guides your future choices
___In participant evaluations, it involves stakeholders in setting the course of the program, thus making it more likely that it meets community needs
___It provides focus for the evaluation and the program
___It determines what needs to be recorded in order to gather data for evaluation
When should you choose questions and plan the evaluation?
___If possible, choosing questions and planning the evaluation should be an integral part of planning your program
___If your reality makes that impossible, choosing questions and planning the evaluation should take place as soon as possible after the program starts
Who should be involved in the process?
___To the extent possible, the process should involve all stakeholders, including program participants and beneficiaries
How do you choose questions?
___Describe the issue or problem you’re addressing
___Describe the importance of the problem
___Describe those who contribute to the problem
___Assess the importance and feasibility of changing those behaviors
___Describe the change objective
___Make sure that the expected changes would constitute a solution or substantial contribution to the problem
How do you plan the evaluation?
___Take into account the issues raised by multiple or very different settings
___Take into account the issues raised by participant groups that differ in culture, ability to complete the program, geographical location, and other factors
For outside evaluators, specifically:
___Choose a setting
___Learn as much as you can about the organization you’ve chosen
___Contact the appropriate person(s) and request an interview
___Plan and prepare for the initial meeting
For all evaluators:
___Find out all you can about the context
___Establish trust with program administrators, staff, and participants
___Aim for a participatory evaluation
___Plan the evaluation in collaboration with stakeholders
Consider all the elements of an evaluation in your planning:
___Information gathering and synthesis
___Designing an observational system
___Developing and testing a prototype intervention
___Selecting an appropriate experimental design
___Collecting and analyzing data
___Gathering and interpreting ethnographic information
___Collecting and using archival data
___Encouraging participation throughout the research
___Refining the intervention based on the evaluation
___Preparing the evaluation results for dissemination