Process Evaluation
What is process evaluation?
Process evaluation is a method of assessing how a program is being implemented. Process evaluation focuses on the program’s operations, implementation, and service delivery, whereas outcome evaluation focuses on the effectiveness of the program and its outcomes (see: Outcome Evaluation). According to one scholar, “When the cook tastes the soup, that’s process; when the guests taste the soup, that’s outcome.”
What questions can a process evaluation ask?
Process evaluation questions address the who, what, when, and how many of a program’s activities and outputs. Examples of process evaluation questions include:
Reach: Who did the program reach? This may include the number of people, whether the people it reached were in the target audience (according to demographic characteristics), and what proportion of the target audience was reached.
- Sample questions: Were new HIV policies disseminated to all school districts during the past school year? Did all students identified with asthma receive the Open Airways curriculum?
Quality of implementation: How well was the program delivered?
- Sample questions: How did the activities or components of the event go? What aspects of the event worked well? Was activity implemented properly, according to standards or protocol? What aspects did not work so well?
Satisfaction: How satisfied were the people involved in the program? This seeks feedback from the event participants, partner organizations, and program staff.
- Sample questions: Was the venue convenient? Was the timing of the event appropriate? Were the different parts of the event easy to navigate? Was the program staff friendly and/or helpful?
Barriers: What got in the way of success? This attempts to understand why something didn’t happen, and may identify key environmental variables.
- Sample questions: Were there any challenges to program participation? What lessons have been learned that might be useful if this event happened again?
Note: The above information has been adapted from “Evaluating Socio Economic Development, SOURCEBOOK 2: Methods & Techniques for Formative Evaluation,” December 2003.