Program Evaluation Methods
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Chapter 6 - CONCLUSIONS
This publication has discussed the principal factors that evaluators should weigh in devising strategies to evaluate program results. Central to the discussion has been the interplay between considerations of
- the programmatic and decision-making context; and
- the evaluation strategy (design, data collection and data analysis).
Three chapters dealt with the major aspects of developing evaluation strategies: design (Chapter 3), data collection (Chapter 4) and analysis (Chapter 5).
The objective is for evaluations to produce timely, relevant, credible, and objective findings and conclusions on program performance, based on valid and reliable data collection and analysis. As well, evaluation reports should present their findings and conclusions in a clear and balanced manner, and make explicit their reliability.
These and other standards provide a basis for federal departments and agencies conducting internal self-assessment and quality improvement activities. As Canadian experience in evaluation broadens and deepens, other standards of quality that are of special relevance to particular groups of Canadian evaluators and their clients will undoubtedly evolve.
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