Leah Goldstein Moses

So far in this series, we’ve addressed data security, consent, and bad survey questions. Now we turn to a problem that isn’t specific to evaluation: over promising, under delivering.

In research, we ask people for their consent so that we can be sure they understand and agree to any risks. A typical consent process includes four parts:

1. An explanation of the study and why it is being done, and what information we are asking for

A series on avoiding or solving big problems that can happen in evaluation

 Whether the scope is large or small, evaluation projects usually follow the same basic steps. The following are some tools the Improve Group created, as well as one we’ve used from UCLA Academic Technology Services that could assist you at each of these steps.

 

The following steps have been developed using established practices in pre-evaluation assessments. They can be used to determine whether or not your organization’s program is ready to be evaluated and provide guidance when you begin to design instruments and gather data. STEP 1: Identify the Question

  As an evaluator, I feel so fortunate to get to spend most of my time learning. In particular, I love that I get to spend time with people who are focused on housing, education, health, and quality of life.

Over the past few months, we have been following the discussions about public budgets as closely as anyone who works with programs that receive public funding. The stress that decision makers are under has been palpable. We have been saddened when programs that have demonstrated strong results have faced cuts, and also saddened to see people who we’ve come to know and care about face significant changes and losses.

Success in the affairs of life often serves to hide one's abilities, whereas adversity frequently gives one an opportunity to discover them.      - Horace