Good information can help you design or evaluate your programs. If you complete the four steps below before gathering any data, your data is more likely to be useful and relevant.
- Determine what questions you want to answer. What information would really help you move forward and build your program? Do you need logistical information, like how people can best access your services, or are you more interested in messaging, like what terms to use when recruiting potential partners or participants? By having a clear set of questions, you can focus your data-gathering process.
- Review what you know about your respondents. Ideally, the people you are gathering information from are not completely new to you. Hopefully you know something about their style, what they like to do, or if there are any special factors you should consider, such as the fabled “survey burnout”. Jot down what you know will help you decide how to ask questions and gather data.
- Evaluate options. While surveys are common, interviews, focus groups and observations can also provide valuable information. You should also consider reviewing literature in case others have asked, and answered, similar questions before. When you’ve identified options, think through the following: which option can best answer your evaluation questions; what kind of skills and resources will you need for each option; what will your respondents most enjoy; and how timely will be the information you gather?
- Design and test your methods. Once you’ve selected the best option for answering your questions, draft up your tool – whether it be a survey, interview questions or other approach. Test the questions with a friendly critic – someone who will tell you honestly whether the questions make sense and whether or not they are burdensome. You can use their test responses to make sure you can analyze the information you’ve gathered to answer your original questions, and use feedback to refine your tools.
