The logical structure of evaluation design includes elements that commonly apply to a wide range of evaluation assignments and alternative evaluation approaches. This checklist is intended as a generic guide to decisions one typically needs to at least consider when planning and conducting an evaluation. The checkpoints are especially relevant when responding to a potential client’s request for a demanding, complex evaluation. However, the checklist is intended for use across a broad range of evaluation assignments—both small and large—and for use with a number of different approaches to evaluation. It may be used alone or in combination with other checklists. When the contemplated evaluation is small in scope and will have only a modest budget, evaluators and their clients can find it useful to consider the full range of evaluation design issues before setting aside those that are not feasible, not particularly relevant to the situation, nor especially important. Since this checklist is intended for evaluators who work under very different circumstances and constraints, the user will need to exercise good judgment and discretion in determining and applying the most applicable parts of the checklist pursuant to the needs of particular evaluations.
This checklist is intended both as an advance organizer and as a reminder of key matters to be considered before and during an evaluation. An ordered list of elements commonly included in evaluation designs follows. These elements are not necessarily intended to be treated in a strict linear sequence. Often one cycles through the elements repeatedly while planning for and negotiating an evaluation and also during the course of the evaluation. In each such cycle some elements are addressed, while others typically are set aside for attention later or abandoned because they don’t apply to the particular situation. Evaluation design is as much process as product. In using this checklist the objective should be, over time, to evolve an evaluation plan to undergird a sound, responsive, and effective evaluation.
In some cases, the evaluator initially is restricted to planning based mainly on what is in a published request for proposal. Even then there are often opportunities to clarify the client’s needs and predilections through attending bidders conferences, contacting persons who are designated and willing to answer questions, and/or reviewing relevant past evaluations of the evaluand or similar evaluands. It is emphasized that evaluators and their clients are wise to revisit evaluation design decisions throughout the evaluation, especially as new questions and circumstances emerge. The following, then, is an ordered set of issues to consider when planning, conducting, and reporting an evaluation.
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