“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.”
- Washington Irving

Clarify the Purpose of the Evaluation

There is a reason you have decided that you will evaluate your tobacco control program. Is it because you fear certain elements are not working properly? Or is it that you need future funding that will only be granted if you can prove your program’s benefits? Whatever the reason, you must be clear about the purpose.

Generally, there are three main reasons why evaluations are conducted:

  1. Improve the program, or some aspect of the program
  2. Measure the program’s effectiveness
  3. Demonstrate effective use of resources

The table below shows examples of how evaluation can help accomplish these tasks.1

Purpose Examples of How Evaluation Helps
Improve the program, or some aspect of the program A program to educate legislators may be effective, but it may not be reaching as many legislators as desired. By conducting a formative evaluation you may discover why. For example, providing the information via written materials may be inconvenient for legislators, or the materials may compete with many other documents for the legislator’s time. In addition, the legislators may not spend much time at the location to which the materials were delivered. As a result, program coordinators may attempt to increase the legislators reached by delivering the material in face-to-face meetings with legislative staff, providing the information via e-mail, or switching to a telephone format to increase access.
Measure the program’s effectiveness Evaluation can assess whether a workplace-based smoke-free environment promotion program is reducing the number of employees who smoke in designated areas, increasing employees’ knowledge about the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke, or increasing management’s positive attitudes toward a smoke-free workplace. Information about a program’s effectiveness can be used to make decisions about its continuation, modification, or expansion.
Demonstrate effective use of resources Program managers are typically accountable to various stakeholders, including government officials, policymakers, funders, and volunteers. As a result, they must be able to justify how and where their resources are used. Evaluation results can be used for this purpose. They can demonstrate that a program is functioning as intended, achieving its objectives, worth the cost, or maintaining or improving health.

Some reasons for evaluating include2:

  • Find out what is and is not working in your program
  • Identify gaps between program plans and actual program delivery
  • Show your funders and the community what your program does and how it benefits your participants
  • Raise additional money for your program by providing evidence of its effectiveness
  • Improve your staff's work with participants by identifying weaknesses as well as strengths
  • Add to the existing knowledge in the human services field about what does and does not work in your type of program with your kinds of participants

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1. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2001). Focus the evaluation design. In Introduction to program evaluation for comprehensive tobacco control programs (pp. 37-48). Atlanta, GA: the Author.

2. Source: Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation Team. (n.d.). Why evaluate your program? In The program manager's guide to evaluation. Retrieved January 25, 2004 from the Administration for Children and Families web site.

 
 
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