Evaluation
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; we often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never makes a mistake never made a discovery (Shannah Kennedy, 2009).
What have you learnt over the last 6 months by stretching outside of your comfort zone?
Evaluation is the process by which we judge the worth or value of something' (Suchman, 1967).
It begins with the end in mind, where we plan to evaluate at the beginning of a project/program or intervention.
Why do we evaluate?
- Increasing pressure to be accountable
- To find out which programs are effective
- To know how to implement effective programs well
- To demonstrate the value of health promotion
Understanding your audience(s) will assist you at every stage of your evaluation. The needs of diverse parties, such as program recipients, funders, local agencies and politicians may be very different, so it is important that you understand why you are undertaking the evaluation and who you intend the evaluation for. This should be done in consultation with key groups.
We also recommend you read about Evaluation Components.
Recommended resources
- Department of Human Services - Integrated Health Promotion Resource Kit (2003)
- Designing a questionnaire
- Evaluation Basics - ACT Health Promotion
- Frequently Asked Evaluation Questions
- Planning and Evaluation Wizard (Central Sydney Area Health Service)
- Research Bites- The University of New South Wales- PHReNet South
- Steps for analysing qualitative data
- Targeting what matters in health promotion evaluation
- Using Focus Groups to evaluate health promotion interventions (Mitchell & Branigan, 2000)
- Vic Health (2008) ‘People, Places, Processes’