Goals-Based Evaluation for Health Promotion Programs 3
Step 2: Identify and Engage Partners
Purpose: To identify evaluation partners and determine how best to engage them
This step involves identifying the individuals, groups, and organizations who will be impacted by the
evaluation’s implementation or results, and can contribute to the success of the evaluation.
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For
simplicity, we will refer to these as “partners”. Consider both internal and external partners, including
the program audience. Once the partners are identified, consider the interests and expectations of
each, how they might use the evaluation results,
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and ways to engage them in the evaluation process.
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Resources to support this step (see Resources section for a complete list):
Wheel of Engagement: This tool from theTamarack Institute helps to identify who to engage,
and to what degree, with opportunities and ongoing work.
Context and content experts: This paper from the Tamarack Institute explores how to increase
the authenticity of community engagment and meaningfully engage both content experts,
described as profressionals and staff in an organizations, service providers and leaders with
formal power, and context expertsdescribed as people with lived experience of the situation.
Step 3: Determine Timelines and Available Resources
Purpose: To identify when the evaluation will occur what resources are available to complete it.
Consider the context in which the evaluation is occurring, and any factors and processes (such as grant
timelines or ethics approvals) that may impact the overall timelines for the evaluation. Next, identify the
resources needed to carry out the evaluation. These could include available dollars for staff salaries,
consultants, data collection, translation or interpretation, as well as supplies, equipment and
communications. Resources can also include the time needed to complete the evaluation, and in-kind
support from partners.
Step 4: Develop Evaluation Questions
Purpose: To select and prioritize the evaluation questions
Building on the information gathered in the previous steps, identify potential questions to guide the
evaluation. As previously stated, this evaluation model is a goals-based model, which can be used to
measures processes or outcomes. Evaluation questions differ according to what is being measured.
A process evaluation, or implementation evaluation, determines whether program activities have been
implemented as planned/intended,
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and why? Or, why not?
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Process evaluation questions could include
“Was the program implemented as designed (program fidelity)?”
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“Is the program reaching the
intended audience?”
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“How satisfied is the audience with the program?”
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An outcome evaluation, or effectiveness evaluation,
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focusses on the more downstream outcomes of a
program.
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It measures the effects of the program on the audience by assessing the progress in achieving
the planned goal.
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Evaluation questions could include “What did/does the audience do differently as a
result of the program?”
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“Did the program result in unintended consequences or outcomes? What
were they?”
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“Did program outcomes increase or decrease?”
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