Formative evaluation versus impact/outcome evaluation August 20, 2009
Posted by Paul Duignan in : Doing evaluation more efficiently, Easy Outcomes, Evaluation debates, Evaluation planning, Outcomes theory, Use of terms, Using the approach , trackbackIn response to a posting on one of my outcomes theory articles by Marcus Pilgrim who ran the recent YEN Evaluation Clinic in Damascus, I have worked up an article on the difference between formative, process and impact/outcome evaluation. As Marcus points out in his posting, the term formative (or developmental) evaluation is not one which is widely known in all sectors. Formative evaluation is directed at optimizing program implementation. Process evaluation attempts to describe the course and context of a program. Impact/outcome evaluation looks at the intended and unintended, positive and negative outcomes of a program and whether they can be attributed to the program.
Having the framework of these three types of evaluation is very helpful when dealing with the question of the most strategic way to allocate evaluation resources. If we just see evaluation as mainly being about impact/outcome evaluation and perhaps a little about process evaluation, we miss the opportunity to optimize programs through formative evaluation. If a program is not optimized so that it has the greatest possible chance of achieving its outcomes, then it often does not make sense to do an impact evaluation on it. This is because we can predict that it is unlikely to achieve its objectives because it has not been optimized.
Equally, where impact evaluation is not appropriate, feasible and/or affordable (as is often the case) if we don’t have a concept of formative evaluation as an evaluation option we miss out on the possibility of doing formative evaluation to at least maximized our chances of success.
The new article is: Duignan, P. (2009). Evaluation types: Formative/developmental, process, impact/outcome evaluation. hecklist approach. Outcomes Theory Knowledge Base Article No. 256. (http://knol.google.com/k/paul-duignan-phd/-/2m7zd68aaz774/119)
Paul Duignan, PhD
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