Evaluation Research
Evaluation is an orderly examination of object/something in order to get practical knowledge. Evaluation research is divided into two categories namely; formative and summative evaluation. Evaluation research is important especially in making decisions regarding the projects and its short term and long term effects(Blank 1993). Evaluation research provide a preview of the project, the cost and enable us to make necessary changes as per the objective of the project.
Formative evaluation is an evaluation conducted during the start of the project and also as the project progress. This will enable us to evaluate and use the information from the evaluation to make changes on the project wherever necessary (Pritchard, 2010). This evaluation is important as it enables continuous assessment of the project and consequently dealing with emerging issues as far as project objective is concern (Scriven1967). There are many types of formative evaluation namely; assessment of the needs of the program and what might be done to achieve the needs, structured conceptualization which helps in program interpretation and possible expectation, implementation assessment which enables necessary changes to program and finally process assessment to monitor progress of the program.
Summative evaluation on the other hand is conducted at the end of the program to assess the efficiency of the program (Spaulding, 2008). Examples of summative evaluations are; Goal-based evaluations to determine whether the intended objective was achieved. An Outcome evaluation to know the effects of the program on the intended group or population. Impact evaluation to know the influence of the programon the intended group or population and finally Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis, which enables assessment on whether the program was conduct within the budget.
References
Blank, R. (1993) Developing a System of Education Indicators:Selecting, Implementing, and Reporting Indicators. EducationalEvaluation and Policy Analysis, 15 (1, Spring): 65-80.
Pritchard, M. (2010). Types of evaluation. Evaluationtoolbox.net.au.
Scriven, M. (1967). The methodology of evaluation. R.W. Tyler, R M. Gagne, M. Scriven (eds.), Perspectives of curriculum evaluation, 39-83. Chicago, IL:
Spaulding D.T. (2008). Program evaluation in practice: core concepts and examples for discussion and analysis. San Francisco: Jossey Bass