| "The
pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never
simple."
— Oscar Wilde |
|
Myths and Misconceptions
|
| Objective writing can mean
different things to different people in different positions
and across different disciplines. While you might have
written objectives for focusing program activities,
here we are talking specifically about the objectives
of the evaluation. In either case, objectives are often
misunderstood and misused. Here is a list of some myths
and misconceptions about writing evaluation objectives
that we hope to dispel. |
|
Myth 1: Stating
evaluation objectives in measurable terms means that we’ll
have to make up performance standards or some kind of arbitrary
"measure" that the program will have to reach.1
Truth: Stating evaluation objectives in
measurable terms simply means that you describe what you plan
to do in your program and how you expect the participants
to change in a way that will allow you to measure whether
you did it or not.
Myth 2: Evaluation
objectives describe the purpose of an evaluation, the point
of conducting one.
Truth: Evaluation objectives are written
to identify the results to be achieved, the change
you expect to take place once the evaluation is complete.
They describe what people will be able to do or know from
the experience. With this information, evaluation activities
are easily defined by asking yourself “what needs to
happen to accomplish that end?”
Myth 3: An evaluation
objective describes how the evaluation will be conducted and
what activities will be completed.
Truth: The true purpose of an objective
is to describe what you plan to accomplish with your evaluation,
e.g., what someone will be able to do, or know, after the
evaluation is complete. While defining how the evaluation
will be conducted and describing activities might be part
of the evaluation, they are not the focus of the objective.
Evaluation requires time and resources, and you don’t
want to lose the support of participants and funders by wasting
either of these. If you don’t have clear objectives
for the evaluation, you are much more likely to waste resources.
So, choose your objectives wisely, state them clearly, and
use them as a compass heading that will keep you moving in
the right direction.
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1. Source: Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation
Team. (n.d.). How do you prepare for an evaluation? In The
program manager's guide to evaluation. Retrieved February
23, 2004 from the Administration for Children and Families web
site. |
