Step 3: Focus the Evaluation

photo of a woman with a clipboard Stakeholders can help you prioritize these questions, but different stakeholders can have different priorities and they may conflict. Some criteria you can use to focus the evaluation are

Amount of resources available.
Amount of resources needed to get an answer.
Willingness to change as a result of an answer (if you are unable or unwilling to make a change once you know the answer to a question, don't spend resources trying to answer).
What you already know (e.g., don't spend resources asking questions you already know the answer to).

Evaluation questions will be determined by the type of evaluation you are conducting (process or outcome). Evaluation questions for the process evaluation relate to inputs and activities found in your logic model as well as program context issues that affect inputs and activities. Evaluation questions for an outcome evaluation relate to the effects of your program on initial, intermediate, and long-term outcomes in your logic model.*

Need to review? See Phase 2: Write Research Questions.

*From Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook, p. 21