research project evaluation examples

Evaluation Research Design: Examples, Methods & Types

As you engage in tasks, you will need to take intermittent breaks to determine how much progress has been made and if any changes need to be effected along the way. This is very similar to what organizations do when they carry out evaluation research.

The evaluation research methodology has become one of the most important approaches for organizations as they strive to create products, services, and processes that speak to the needs of target users. In this article, we will show you how your organization can conduct successful evaluation research using Formplus .

What is Evaluation Research?

Also known as program evaluation, evaluation research is a common research design that entails carrying out a structured assessment of the value of resources committed to a project or specific goal. It often adopts social research methods to gather and analyze useful information about organizational processes and products.

As a type of applied research , evaluation research typically associated with real-life scenarios within organizational contexts. This means that the researcher will need to leverage common workplace skills including interpersonal skills and team play to arrive at objective research findings that will be useful to stakeholders.

Characteristics of Evaluation Research

Research Environment: Evaluation research is conducted in the real world; that is, within the context of an organization.
Research Focus: Evaluation research is primarily concerned with measuring the outcomes of a process rather than the process itself.
Research Outcome: Evaluation research is employed for strategic decision making in organizations.
Research Goal: The goal of program evaluation is to determine whether a process has yielded the desired result(s).
This type of research protects the interests of stakeholders in the organization.
It often represents a middle-ground between pure and applied research.
Evaluation research is both detailed and continuous. It pays attention to performative processes rather than descriptions.
Research Process: This research design utilizes qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather relevant data about a product or action-based strategy. These methods include observation, tests, and surveys.

Types of Evaluation Research

The Encyclopedia of Evaluation (Mathison, 2004) treats forty-two different evaluation approaches and models ranging from “appreciative inquiry” to “connoisseurship” to “transformative evaluation”. Common types of evaluation research include the following:

Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation or baseline survey is a type of evaluation research that involves assessing the needs of the users or target market before embarking on a project. Formative evaluation is the starting point of evaluation research because it sets the tone of the organization’s project and provides useful insights for other types of evaluation.

Mid-term Evaluation

Mid-term evaluation entails assessing how far a project has come and determining if it is in line with the set goals and objectives. Mid-term reviews allow the organization to determine if a change or modification of the implementation strategy is necessary, and it also serves for tracking the project.

Summative Evaluation

This type of evaluation is also known as end-term evaluation of project-completion evaluation and it is conducted immediately after the completion of a project. Here, the researcher examines the value and outputs of the program within the context of the projected results.

Summative evaluation allows the organization to measure the degree of success of a project. Such results can be shared with stakeholders, target markets, and prospective investors.

Outcome Evaluation

Outcome evaluation is primarily target-audience oriented because it measures the effects of the project, program, or product on the users. This type of evaluation views the outcomes of the project through the lens of the target audience and it often measures changes such as knowledge-improvement, skill acquisition, and increased job efficiency.

Appreciative Enquiry

Appreciative inquiry is a type of evaluation research that pays attention to result-producing approaches. It is predicated on the belief that an organization will grow in whatever direction its stakeholders pay primary attention to such that if all the attention is focused on problems, identifying them would be easy.

In carrying out appreciative inquiry, the research identifies the factors directly responsible for the positive results realized in the course of a project, analyses the reasons for these results, and intensifies the utilization of these factors.

Evaluation Research Methodology

There are four major evaluation research methods, namely; output measurement, input measurement, impact assessment and service quality

Output/Performance Measurement

Output measurement is a method employed in evaluative research that shows the results of an activity undertaking by an organization. In other words, performance measurement pays attention to the results achieved by the resources invested in a specific activity or organizational process.

More than investing resources in a project, organizations must be able to track the extent to which these resources have yielded results, and this is where performance measurement comes in. Output measurement allows organizations to pay attention to the effectiveness and impact of a process rather than just the process itself.

Other key indicators of performance measurement include user-satisfaction, organizational capacity, market penetration, and facility utilization. In carrying out performance measurement, organizations must identify the parameters that are relevant to the process in question, their industry, and the target markets.

5 Performance Evaluation Research Questions Examples

What is the cost-effectiveness of this project?
What is the overall reach of this project?
How would you rate the market penetration of this project?
How accessible is the project?
Is this project time-efficient?

Input Measurement

In evaluation research, input measurement entails assessing the number of resources committed to a project or goal in any organization. This is one of the most common indicators in evaluation research because it allows organizations to track their investments.

The most common indicator of inputs measurement is the budget which allows organizations to evaluate and limit expenditure for a project. It is also important to measure non-monetary investments like human capital; that is the number of persons needed for successful project execution and production capital.

5 Input Evaluation Research Questions Examples

What is the budget for this project?
What is the timeline of this process?
How many employees have been assigned to this project?
Do we need to purchase new machinery for this project?
How many third-parties are collaborators in this project?

Impact/Outcomes Assessment

In impact assessment, the evaluation researcher focuses on how the product or project affects target markets, both directly and indirectly. Outcomes assessment is somewhat challenging because many times, it is difficult to measure the real-time value and benefits of a project for the users.

In assessing the impact of a process, the evaluation researcher must pay attention to the improvement recorded by the users as a result of the process or project in question. Hence, it makes sense to focus on cognitive and affective changes, expectation-satisfaction, and similar accomplishments of the users.

5 Impact Evaluation Research Questions Examples

How has this project affected you?
Has this process affected you positively or negatively?
What role did this project play in improving your earning power?
On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about this project?
How has this project improved your mental health?

Service Quality

Service quality is the evaluation research method that accounts for any differences between the expectations of the target markets and their impression of the undertaken project. Hence, it pays attention to the overall service quality assessment carried out by the users.

It is not uncommon for organizations to build the expectations of target markets as they embark on specific projects. Service quality evaluation allows these organizations to track the extent to which the actual product or service delivery fulfils the expectations.

5 Service Quality Evaluation Questions

On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the product?
How helpful was our customer service representative?
How satisfied are you with the quality of service?
How long did it take to resolve the issue at hand?
How likely are you to recommend us to your network?

Uses of Evaluation Research

Evaluation research is used by organizations to measure the effectiveness of activities and identify areas needing improvement. Findings from evaluation research are key to project and product advancements and are very influential in helping organizations realize their goals efficiently.
The findings arrived at from evaluation research serve as evidence of the impact of the project embarked on by an organization. This information can be presented to stakeholders, customers, and can also help your organization secure investments for future projects.
Evaluation research helps organizations to justify their use of limited resources and choose the best alternatives.
It is also useful in pragmatic goal setting and realization.
Evaluation research provides detailed insights into projects embarked on by an organization. Essentially, it allows all stakeholders to understand multiple dimensions of a process, and to determine strengths and weaknesses.
Evaluation research also plays a major role in helping organizations to improve their overall practice and service delivery. This research design allows organizations to weigh existing processes through feedback provided by stakeholders, and this informs better decision making.
Evaluation research is also instrumental to sustainable capacity building. It helps you to analyze demand patterns and determine whether your organization requires more funds, upskilling or improved operations.

Data Collection Techniques Used in Evaluation Research

In gathering useful data for evaluation research, the researcher often combines quantitative and qualitative research methods . Qualitative research methods allow the researcher to gather information relating to intangible values such as market satisfaction and perception.

On the other hand, quantitative methods are used by the evaluation researcher to assess numerical patterns, that is, quantifiable data. These methods help you measure impact and results; although they may not serve for understanding the context of the process.

Quantitative Methods for Evaluation Research

A survey is a quantitative method that allows you to gather information about a project from a specific group of people. Surveys are largely context-based and limited to target groups who are asked a set of structured questions in line with the predetermined context.

Surveys usually consist of close-ended questions that allow the evaluative researcher to gain insight into several variables including market coverage and customer preferences. Surveys can be carried out physically using paper forms or online through data-gathering platforms like Formplus .

Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a common quantitative research instrument deployed in evaluation research. Typically, it is an aggregation of different types of questions or prompts which help the researcher to obtain valuable information from respondents.

A poll is a common method of opinion-sampling that allows you to weigh the perception of the public about issues that affect them. The best way to achieve accuracy in polling is by conducting them online using platforms like Formplus.

Polls are often structured as Likert questions and the options provided always account for neutrality or indecision. Conducting a poll allows the evaluation researcher to understand the extent to which the product or service satisfies the needs of the users.

Qualitative Methods for Evaluation Research

One-on-One Interview

An interview is a structured conversation involving two participants; usually the researcher and the user or a member of the target market. One-on-One interviews can be conducted physically, via the telephone and through video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Meet.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a research method that involves interacting with a limited number of persons within your target market, who can provide insights on market perceptions and new products.

Qualitative Observation

Qualitative observation is a research method that allows the evaluation researcher to gather useful information from the target audience through a variety of subjective approaches. This method is more extensive than quantitative observation because it deals with a smaller sample size, and it also utilizes inductive analysis.

Case Studies

A case study is a research method that helps the researcher to gain a better understanding of a subject or process. Case studies involve in-depth research into a given subject, to understand its functionalities and successes.

How to Formplus Online Form Builder for Evaluation Survey

Sign into Formplus

In the Formplus builder, you can easily create your evaluation survey by dragging and dropping preferred fields into your form. To access the Formplus builder, you will need to create an account on Formplus.

Once you do this, sign in to your account and click on “Create Form ” to begin.

Edit Form Title

Click on the field provided to input your form title, for example, “Evaluation Research Survey”.

Click on the edit button to edit the form.

Add Fields: Drag and drop preferred form fields into your form in the Formplus builder inputs column. There are several field input options for surveys in the Formplus builder.

Edit fields

Click on “Save”

Preview form.

Form Customization

With the form customization options in the form builder, you can easily change the outlook of your form and make it more unique and personalized. Formplus allows you to change your form theme, add background images, and even change the font according to your needs.

Multiple Sharing Options

Formplus offers multiple form sharing options which enables you to easily share your evaluation survey with survey respondents. You can use the direct social media sharing buttons to share your form link to your organization’s social media pages.

You can send out your survey form as email invitations to your research subjects too. If you wish, you can share your form’s QR code or embed it on your organization’s website for easy access.

Conclusion

Conducting evaluation research allows organizations to determine the effectiveness of their activities at different phases. This type of research can be carried out using qualitative and quantitative data collection methods including focus groups, observation, telephone and one-on-one interviews, and surveys.

Online surveys created and administered via data collection platforms like Formplus make it easier for you to gather and process information during evaluation research. With Formplus multiple form sharing options, it is even easier for you to gather useful data from target markets.

Connect to Formplus, Get Started Now - It's Free!

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Home Market Research

Evaluation Research: Definition, Methods and Examples

Content Index

What is evaluation research
Why do evaluation research

Quantitative methods

Qualitative methods.

Process evaluation research question examples
Outcome evaluation research question examples

What is evaluation research?

Evaluation research, also known as program evaluation, refers to research purpose instead of a specific method. Evaluation research is the systematic assessment of the worth or merit of time, money, effort and resources spent in order to achieve a goal.

Evaluation research is closely related to but slightly different from more conventional social research . It uses many of the same methods used in traditional social research, but because it takes place within an organizational context, it requires team skills, interpersonal skills, management skills, political smartness, and other research skills that social research does not need much. Evaluation research also requires one to keep in mind the interests of the stakeholders.

Evaluation research is a type of applied research, and so it is intended to have some real-world effect. Many methods like surveys and experiments can be used to do evaluation research. The process of evaluation research consisting of data analysis and reporting is a rigorous, systematic process that involves collecting data about organizations, processes, projects, services, and/or resources. Evaluation research enhances knowledge and decision-making, and leads to practical applications.

LEARN ABOUT: Action Research

Why do evaluation research?

The common goal of most evaluations is to extract meaningful information from the audience and provide valuable insights to evaluators such as sponsors, donors, client-groups, administrators, staff, and other relevant constituencies. Most often, feedback is perceived value as useful if it helps in decision-making. However, evaluation research does not always create an impact that can be applied anywhere else, sometimes they fail to influence short-term decisions. It is also equally true that initially, it might seem to not have any influence, but can have a delayed impact when the situation is more favorable. In spite of this, there is a general agreement that the major goal of evaluation research should be to improve decision-making through the systematic utilization of measurable feedback.

Below are some of the benefits of evaluation research

Gain insights about a project or program and its operations

Evaluation Research lets you understand what works and what doesn’t, where we were, where we are and where we are headed towards. You can find out the areas of improvement and identify strengths. So, it will help you to figure out what do you need to focus more on and if there are any threats to your business. You can also find out if there are currently hidden sectors in the market that are yet untapped.

Improve practice

It is essential to gauge your past performance and understand what went wrong in order to deliver better services to your customers. Unless it is a two-way communication, there is no way to improve on what you have to offer. Evaluation research gives an opportunity to your employees and customers to express how they feel and if there’s anything they would like to change. It also lets you modify or adopt a practice such that it increases the chances of success.

Assess the effects

After evaluating the efforts, you can see how well you are meeting objectives and targets. Evaluations let you measure if the intended benefits are really reaching the targeted audience and if yes, then how effectively.

Build capacity

Evaluations help you to analyze the demand pattern and predict if you will need more funds, upgrade skills and improve the efficiency of operations. It lets you find the gaps in the production to delivery chain and possible ways to fill them.

Methods of evaluation research

All market research methods involve collecting and analyzing the data, making decisions about the validity of the information and deriving relevant inferences from it. Evaluation research comprises of planning, conducting and analyzing the results which include the use of data collection techniques and applying statistical methods.

Some of the evaluation methods which are quite popular are input measurement, output or performance measurement, impact or outcomes assessment, quality assessment, process evaluation, benchmarking, standards, cost analysis, organizational effectiveness, program evaluation methods, and LIS-centered methods. There are also a few types of evaluations that do not always result in a meaningful assessment such as descriptive studies, formative evaluations, and implementation analysis. Evaluation research is more about information-processing and feedback functions of evaluation.

These methods can be broadly classified as quantitative and qualitative methods.

The outcome of the quantitative research methods is an answer to the questions below and is used to measure anything tangible.

Who was involved?
What were the outcomes?
What was the price?

The best way to collect quantitative data is through surveys , questionnaires , and polls . You can also create pre-tests and post-tests, review existing documents and databases or gather clinical data.

Surveys are used to gather opinions, feedback or ideas of your employees or customers and consist of various question types . They can be conducted by a person face-to-face or by telephone, by mail, or online. Online surveys do not require the intervention of any human and are far more efficient and practical. You can see the survey results on dashboard of research tools and dig deeper using filter criteria based on various factors such as age, gender, location, etc. You can also keep survey logic such as branching, quotas, chain survey, looping, etc in the survey questions and reduce the time to both create and respond to the donor survey . You can also generate a number of reports that involve statistical formulae and present data that can be readily absorbed in the meetings. To learn more about how research tool works and whether it is suitable for you, sign up for a free account now.

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Quantitative data measure the depth and breadth of an initiative, for instance, the number of people who participated in the non-profit event, the number of people who enrolled for a new course at the university. Quantitative data collected before and after a program can show its results and impact.

The accuracy of quantitative data to be used for evaluation research depends on how well the sample represents the population, the ease of analysis, and their consistency. Quantitative methods can fail if the questions are not framed correctly and not distributed to the right audience. Also, quantitative data do not provide an understanding of the context and may not be apt for complex issues.

Learn more: Quantitative Market Research: The Complete Guide

Qualitative research methods are used where quantitative methods cannot solve the research problem , i.e. they are used to measure intangible values. They answer questions such as

What is the value added?
How satisfied are you with our service?
How likely are you to recommend us to your friends?
What will improve your experience?

LEARN ABOUT: Qualitative Interview

Qualitative data is collected through observation, interviews, case studies, and focus groups. The steps for creating a qualitative study involve examining, comparing and contrasting, and understanding patterns. Analysts conclude after identification of themes, clustering similar data, and finally reducing to points that make sense.

Observations may help explain behaviors as well as the social context that is generally not discovered by quantitative methods. Observations of behavior and body language can be done by watching a participant, recording audio or video. Structured interviews can be conducted with people alone or in a group under controlled conditions, or they may be asked open-ended qualitative research questions . Qualitative research methods are also used to understand a person’s perceptions and motivations.

LEARN ABOUT: Social Communication Questionnaire

The strength of this method is that group discussion can provide ideas and stimulate memories with topics cascading as discussion occurs. The accuracy of qualitative data depends on how well contextual data explains complex issues and complements quantitative data. It helps get the answer of “why” and “how”, after getting an answer to “what”. The limitations of qualitative data for evaluation research are that they are subjective, time-consuming, costly and difficult to analyze and interpret.

Learn more: Qualitative Market Research: The Complete Guide

Survey software can be used for both the evaluation research methods. You can use above sample questions for evaluation research and send a survey in minutes using research software. Using a tool for research simplifies the process right from creating a survey, importing contacts, distributing the survey and generating reports that aid in research.

Examples of evaluation research

Evaluation research questions lay the foundation of a successful evaluation. They define the topics that will be evaluated. Keeping evaluation questions ready not only saves time and money, but also makes it easier to decide what data to collect, how to analyze it, and how to report it.

Evaluation research questions must be developed and agreed on in the planning stage, however, ready-made research templates can also be used.

Process evaluation research question examples:

How often do you use our product in a day?
Were approvals taken from all stakeholders?
Can you report the issue from the system?
Can you submit the feedback from the system?
Was each task done as per the standard operating procedure?
What were the barriers to the implementation of each task?
Were any improvement areas discovered?

Outcome evaluation research question examples:

How satisfied are you with our product?
Did the program produce intended outcomes?
What were the unintended outcomes?
Has the program increased the knowledge of participants?
Were the participants of the program employable before the course started?
Do participants of the program have the skills to find a job after the course ended?
Is the knowledge of participants better compared to those who did not participate in the program?

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Project Evaluation Examples | 2024 Practical Guide with Templates For Beginners

Jane Ng • 03 May, 2024 • 13 min read

Whether you’re managing projects, running a business, or working as a freelancer, the project plays a vital role in driving the growth of your business model. It offers a structured and systematic way to assess project performance, pinpoint areas that need improvement, and achieve optimal outcomes.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into project evaluation, discover its definition, benefits, key components, types, project evaluation examples , post-evaluation reporting, and create a project evaluation process.

Let’s explore how project evaluation can take your business toward new heights.

What is project evaluation, benefits of project evaluation, key components of project evaluation, types of project evaluation, project evaluation examples, step-by-step to create project evaluation, post evaluation (report) , project evaluation templates.

Key Takeaways

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Project evaluation is the assessment of a project’s performance, effectiveness, and outcomes. It involves data to see if the project analyzing its goals and met success criteria.

Project evaluation goes beyond simply measuring outputs and deliverables; it examines the overall impact and value generated by the project.

By learning from what worked and didn’t, organizations can improve their planning and make changes to get even better results next time. It’s like taking a step back to see the bigger picture and figure out how to make things even more successful.

Project evaluation offers several key benefits that contribute to the success and growth of an organization, including:

It improves decision-making: It helps organizations evaluate project performance, identify areas for improvement, and understand factors contributing to success or failure. So they can make more informed decisions about resource allocation, project prioritization, and strategic planning.
It enhances project performance: Through project evaluation, organizations can identify strengths and weaknesses within their projects. This allows them to implement corrective measures to improve project outcomes.
It helps to mitigate risks: By regularly assessing project progress, organizations can identify potential risks and take solutions to reduce the possibility of project delays, budget overruns, and other unexpected issues.
It promotes continuous improvement : By analyzing project failures, organizations can refine their project management practices, this iterative approach to improvement drives innovation, efficiency, and overall project success.
It improves stakeholder engagement and satisfaction: Evaluating outcomes and gathering stakeholders’ feedback enables organizations to understand their needs, expectations, and satisfaction levels.
It promotes transparency: Evaluation results can be communicated to stakeholders, demonstrating transparency and building trust. The results provide an objective project performance evaluation, ensuring that projects are aligned with strategic goals and resources are used efficiently.

1/ Clear Objectives and Criteria:

Project evaluation begins with establishing clear objectives and criteria for measuring success. These objectives and criteria provide a framework for evaluation and ensure alignment with the project’s goals.

Here are some project evaluation plan examples and questions that can help in defining clear objectives and criteria:

Questions to Define Clear Objectives:

What specific goals do we want to achieve with this project?
What measurable outcomes or results are we aiming for?
How can we quantify success for this project?
Are the objectives realistic and attainable within the given resources and timeframe?
Are the objectives aligned with the organization’s strategic priorities?

Examples of Evaluation Criteria:

Cost-effectiveness: Assessing if the project was completed within the allocated budget and delivered value for money.
Timeline: Evaluating if the project was completed within the planned schedule and met milestones.
Quality: Examining whether the project deliverables and outcomes meet the predetermined quality standards.
Stakeholder satisfaction: Gather feedback from stakeholders to gauge their satisfaction level with the project’s results.
Impact: Measuring the project’s broader impact on the organization, customers, and community.

2/ Data Collection and Analysis:

Effective project evaluation relies on collecting relevant data to assess project performance. This includes gathering quantitative and qualitative data through various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, and document analysis.

The collected data is then analyzed to gain insights into the project’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance. Here are some example questions when preparing to collect and analyze data:

What specific data needs to be collected to evaluate the project’s performance?
What methods and tools will be employed to collect the required data (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations, document analysis)?
Who are the key stakeholders from whom data needs to be collected?
How will the data collection process be structured and organized to ensure accuracy and completeness?

3/ Performance Measurement:

Performance measurement involves assessing the project’s progress, outputs, and outcomes about the established objectives and criteria. It includes tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and evaluating the project’s adherence to schedules, budgets, quality standards, and stakeholder requirements.

4/ Stakeholder Engagement:

Stakeholders are individuals or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by the project or have a significant interest in its outcomes. They can include project sponsors, team members, end-users, customers, community members, and other relevant parties.

Engaging stakeholders in the project evaluation process means involving them and seeking their perspectives, feedback, and insights. By engaging stakeholders, their diverse viewpoints and experiences are considered, ensuring a more comprehensive evaluation.

5/ Reporting and Communication:

The final key component of project evaluation is the reporting and communication of evaluation results. This involves preparing a comprehensive evaluation report that presents findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Effective communication of evaluation results ensures that stakeholders are informed about the project’s performance, lessons learned, and potential areas for improvement.

There are generally four main types of project evaluation:

#1 – Performance Evaluation:

This type of evaluation focuses on assessing the performance of a project in terms of its adherence to project plans, schedules, budgets, and quality standards .

It examines whether the project is meeting its objectives, delivering the intended outputs, and effectively utilizing resources.

#2 – Outcomes Evaluation:

Outcomes evaluation assesses the broader impact and results of a project. It looks beyond the immediate outputs and examines the long-term outcomes and benefits generated by the project.

This evaluation type considers whether the project has achieved its desired goals, created positive changes , and contributed to the intended impacts .

#3 – Process Evaluation:

Process evaluation examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the project implementation process. It assesses the project management strategies , methodologies , and approaches used to execute the project.

This evaluation type focuses on identifying areas for improvement in project planning, execution, coordination, and communication.

#4 – Impact Evaluation:

Impact evaluation goes even further than outcomes evaluation and aims to determine the project’s causal relationship with the observed changes or impacts.

It seeks to understand the extent to which the project can be attributed to the achieved outcomes and impacts, taking into account external factors and potential alternative explanations.

*Note: These types of evaluation can be combined or tailored to suit the project’s specific needs and context.

Different project evaluation examples are as follows:

#1 – Performance Evaluation

A construction project aims to complete a building within a specific timeframe and budget. Performance evaluation would assess the project’s progress, adherence to the construction schedule, quality of workmanship, and utilization of resources.

#2 – Outcomes Evaluation

A non-profit organization implements a community development project about improving literacy rates in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Outcomes evaluation would involve assessing literacy levels, school attendance, and community engagement.

#3 – Process Evaluation – Project Evaluation Examples

An IT project involves the implementation of a new software system across a company’s departments. Process evaluation would examine the project’s implementation processes and activities.

#4 – Impact Evaluation

A public health initiative aims to reduce the prevalence of a specific disease in a targeted population. Impact evaluation would assess the project’s contribution to the reduction of disease rates and improvements in community health outcomes.

Here is a step-by-step guide to help you create a project evaluation:

1/ Define the Purpose and Objectives:

Clearly state the purpose of the evaluation, such as project performance or measuring outcomes.
Establish specific objectives that align with the evaluation’s purpose, focusing on what you aim to achieve.

2/ Identify Evaluation Criteria and Indicators:

Identify the evaluation criteria for the project. These can include performance, quality, cost, schedule adherence, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Define measurable indicators for each criterion to facilitate data collection and analysis.

3/ Plan Data Collection Methods:

Identify the methods and tools to collect data such as surveys, interviews, observations, document analysis, or existing data sources.
Design questionnaires, interview guides, observation checklists, or other instruments to collect the necessary data. Ensure that they are clear, concise, and focused on gathering relevant information.

4/ Collect Data:

Implement the planned data collection methods and gather the necessary information. Ensure that data collection is done consistently and accurately to obtain reliable results.
Consider the appropriate sample size and target stakeholders for data collection.

5/ Analyze Data:

Once the data is collected, analyze it to derive meaningful insights. You can use tools and techniques to interpret the data and identify patterns, trends, and key findings. Ensure that the analysis aligns with the evaluation criteria and objectives.

6/ Draw Conclusions and Make Recommendations:

Based on the evaluation outcomes, conclude the project’s performance.
Make actionable recommendations for improvement, highlighting specific areas or strategies to enhance project effectiveness.
Prepare a comprehensive report that presents the evaluation process, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

7/ Communicate and Share Results:

Share the evaluation results with relevant stakeholders and decision-makers.
Use the findings and recommendations to inform future project planning, decision-making, and continuous improvement.

If you have completed the project evaluation, it is time for a follow-up report to provide a comprehensive overview of the evaluation process, its results, and implications for the projects.

Here are the points you need to keep in mind for post-evaluation reporting:

Provide a concise summary of the evaluation, including its purpose, key findings, and recommendations.
Detail the evaluation approach, including data collection methods, tools, and techniques used.
Present the main findings and results of the evaluation.
Highlight significant achievements, successes, and areas for improvement.
Discuss the implications of the evaluation findings and recommendations for project planning, decision-making, and resource allocation.

Here’s an overall project evaluation templates. You can customize it based on your specific project and evaluation needs:

Key Takeaways

Project evaluation is a critical process that helps assess the performance, outcomes, and effectiveness of a project. It provides valuable information about what worked well, areas for improvement, and lessons learned.

And don’t forget AhaSlides play a significant role in the evaluation process. We provide pre-made templates with interactive features , which can be utilized to collect data, insights and engage stakeholders! Let’s explore!

What are the 4 types of project evaluation?

What are the steps in a project evaluation.

Here are steps to help you create a project evaluation: Define the Purpose and Objectives Identify Evaluation Criteria and Indicators Plan Data Collection Methods Collect Data and Analyze Data Draw Conclusions and Make Recommendations Communicate and Share Results

What are the 5 elements of evaluation in project management?

Clear Objectives and Criteria Data Collection and Analysis Performance Measurement Stakeholder Engagement Reporting and Communication

Ref: Project Manager | Eval Community | AHRQ

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Home » Evaluating Research – Process, Examples and Methods

Evaluating Research – Process, Examples and Methods

Table of Contents

Evaluating Research

Definition:

Evaluating Research refers to the process of assessing the quality, credibility, and relevance of a research study or project. This involves examining the methods, data, and results of the research in order to determine its validity, reliability, and usefulness. Evaluating research can be done by both experts and non-experts in the field, and involves critical thinking, analysis, and interpretation of the research findings.

Research Evaluating Process

The process of evaluating research typically involves the following steps:

Identify the Research Question

The first step in evaluating research is to identify the research question or problem that the study is addressing. This will help you to determine whether the study is relevant to your needs.

Assess the Study Design

The study design refers to the methodology used to conduct the research. You should assess whether the study design is appropriate for the research question and whether it is likely to produce reliable and valid results.

Evaluate the Sample

The sample refers to the group of participants or subjects who are included in the study. You should evaluate whether the sample size is adequate and whether the participants are representative of the population under study.

Review the Data Collection Methods

You should review the data collection methods used in the study to ensure that they are valid and reliable. This includes assessing the measures used to collect data and the procedures used to collect data.

Examine the Statistical Analysis

Statistical analysis refers to the methods used to analyze the data. You should examine whether the statistical analysis is appropriate for the research question and whether it is likely to produce valid and reliable results.

Assess the Conclusions

You should evaluate whether the data support the conclusions drawn from the study and whether they are relevant to the research question.

Consider the Limitations

Finally, you should consider the limitations of the study, including any potential biases or confounding factors that may have influenced the results.

Evaluating Research Methods

Evaluating Research Methods are as follows:

Peer review: Peer review is a process where experts in the field review a study before it is published. This helps ensure that the study is accurate, valid, and relevant to the field.
Critical appraisal : Critical appraisal involves systematically evaluating a study based on specific criteria. This helps assess the quality of the study and the reliability of the findings.
Replication : Replication involves repeating a study to test the validity and reliability of the findings. This can help identify any errors or biases in the original study.
Meta-analysis : Meta-analysis is a statistical method that combines the results of multiple studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a particular topic. This can help identify patterns or inconsistencies across studies.
Consultation with experts : Consulting with experts in the field can provide valuable insights into the quality and relevance of a study. Experts can also help identify potential limitations or biases in the study.
Review of funding sources: Examining the funding sources of a study can help identify any potential conflicts of interest or biases that may have influenced the study design or interpretation of results.

Example of Evaluating Research

Example of Evaluating Research sample for students:

Title of the Study: The Effects of Social Media Use on Mental Health among College Students

Sample Size: 500 college students

Sampling Technique : Convenience sampling

Sample Size: The sample size of 500 college students is a moderate sample size, which could be considered representative of the college student population. However, it would be more representative if the sample size was larger, or if a random sampling technique was used.
Sampling Technique : Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique, which means that the sample may not be representative of the population. This technique may introduce bias into the study since the participants are self-selected and may not be representative of the entire college student population. Therefore, the results of this study may not be generalizable to other populations.
Participant Characteristics: The study does not provide any information about the demographic characteristics of the participants, such as age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. This information is important because social media use and mental health may vary among different demographic groups.
Data Collection Method: The study used a self-administered survey to collect data. Self-administered surveys may be subject to response bias and may not accurately reflect participants’ actual behaviors and experiences.
Data Analysis: The study used descriptive statistics and regression analysis to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics provide a summary of the data, while regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between two or more variables. However, the study did not provide information about the statistical significance of the results or the effect sizes.

Overall, while the study provides some insights into the relationship between social media use and mental health among college students, the use of a convenience sampling technique and the lack of information about participant characteristics limit the generalizability of the findings. In addition, the use of self-administered surveys may introduce bias into the study, and the lack of information about the statistical significance of the results limits the interpretation of the findings.

Note*: Above mentioned example is just a sample for students. Do not copy and paste directly into your assignment. Kindly do your own research for academic purposes.

Applications of Evaluating Research

Here are some of the applications of evaluating research:

Identifying reliable sources : By evaluating research, researchers, students, and other professionals can identify the most reliable sources of information to use in their work. They can determine the quality of research studies, including the methodology, sample size, data analysis, and conclusions.
Validating findings: Evaluating research can help to validate findings from previous studies. By examining the methodology and results of a study, researchers can determine if the findings are reliable and if they can be used to inform future research.
Identifying knowledge gaps: Evaluating research can also help to identify gaps in current knowledge. By examining the existing literature on a topic, researchers can determine areas where more research is needed, and they can design studies to address these gaps.
Improving research quality : Evaluating research can help to improve the quality of future research. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies, researchers can design better studies and avoid common pitfalls.
Informing policy and decision-making : Evaluating research is crucial in informing policy and decision-making in many fields. By examining the evidence base for a particular issue, policymakers can make informed decisions that are supported by the best available evidence.
Enhancing education : Evaluating research is essential in enhancing education. Educators can use research findings to improve teaching methods, curriculum development, and student outcomes.

Purpose of Evaluating Research

Here are some of the key purposes of evaluating research:

Determine the reliability and validity of research findings : By evaluating research, researchers can determine the quality of the study design, data collection, and analysis. They can determine whether the findings are reliable, valid, and generalizable to other populations.
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of research studies: Evaluating research helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of research studies, including potential biases, confounding factors, and limitations. This information can help researchers to design better studies in the future.
Inform evidence-based decision-making: Evaluating research is crucial in informing evidence-based decision-making in many fields, including healthcare, education, and public policy. Policymakers, educators, and clinicians rely on research evidence to make informed decisions.
Identify research gaps : By evaluating research, researchers can identify gaps in the existing literature and design studies to address these gaps. This process can help to advance knowledge and improve the quality of research in a particular field.
Ensure research ethics and integrity : Evaluating research helps to ensure that research studies are conducted ethically and with integrity. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines to protect the welfare and rights of study participants and to maintain the trust of the public.

Characteristics Evaluating Research

Characteristics Evaluating Research are as follows:

Research question/hypothesis: A good research question or hypothesis should be clear, concise, and well-defined. It should address a significant problem or issue in the field and be grounded in relevant theory or prior research.
Study design: The research design should be appropriate for answering the research question and be clearly described in the study. The study design should also minimize bias and confounding variables.
Sampling : The sample should be representative of the population of interest and the sampling method should be appropriate for the research question and study design.
Data collection : The data collection methods should be reliable and valid, and the data should be accurately recorded and analyzed.
Results : The results should be presented clearly and accurately, and the statistical analysis should be appropriate for the research question and study design.
Interpretation of results : The interpretation of the results should be based on the data and not influenced by personal biases or preconceptions.
Generalizability: The study findings should be generalizable to the population of interest and relevant to other settings or contexts.
Contribution to the field : The study should make a significant contribution to the field and advance our understanding of the research question or issue.

Advantages of Evaluating Research

Evaluating research has several advantages, including:

Ensuring accuracy and validity : By evaluating research, we can ensure that the research is accurate, valid, and reliable. This ensures that the findings are trustworthy and can be used to inform decision-making.
Identifying gaps in knowledge : Evaluating research can help identify gaps in knowledge and areas where further research is needed. This can guide future research and help build a stronger evidence base.
Promoting critical thinking: Evaluating research requires critical thinking skills, which can be applied in other areas of life. By evaluating research, individuals can develop their critical thinking skills and become more discerning consumers of information.
Improving the quality of research : Evaluating research can help improve the quality of research by identifying areas where improvements can be made. This can lead to more rigorous research methods and better-quality research.
Informing decision-making: By evaluating research, we can make informed decisions based on the evidence. This is particularly important in fields such as medicine and public health, where decisions can have significant consequences.
Advancing the field : Evaluating research can help advance the field by identifying new research questions and areas of inquiry. This can lead to the development of new theories and the refinement of existing ones.

Limitations of Evaluating Research

Limitations of Evaluating Research are as follows:

Time-consuming: Evaluating research can be time-consuming, particularly if the study is complex or requires specialized knowledge. This can be a barrier for individuals who are not experts in the field or who have limited time.
Subjectivity : Evaluating research can be subjective, as different individuals may have different interpretations of the same study. This can lead to inconsistencies in the evaluation process and make it difficult to compare studies.
Limited generalizability: The findings of a study may not be generalizable to other populations or contexts. This limits the usefulness of the study and may make it difficult to apply the findings to other settings.
Publication bias: Research that does not find significant results may be less likely to be published, which can create a bias in the published literature. This can limit the amount of information available for evaluation.
Lack of transparency: Some studies may not provide enough detail about their methods or results, making it difficult to evaluate their quality or validity.
Funding bias : Research funded by particular organizations or industries may be biased towards the interests of the funder. This can influence the study design, methods, and interpretation of results.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

Data Collection – Methods Types and Examples

Delimitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Research Process – Steps, Examples and Tips

Research Design – Types, Methods and Examples

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Research Questions – Types, Examples and Writing...

The two most common situations faced by evaluators of development research projects are ex ante evaluations and ex post evaluations. In a few cases an intermediate evaluation may be performed, also sometimes called a "mid-term" evaluation. The formulation of the objectives in the specific guide will obviously depend on the situation, on the needs of the stakeholders , but also on the researcher's environment and on ethical considerations .

Ex ante evaluation refers to the evaluation of a project proposal, for example for deciding whether or not to finance it, or to provide scientific support.

Ex post evaluation is conducted after a research is completed, again for a variety of reasons such as deciding to publish or to apply the results, to grant an award or a fellowship to the author(s), or to build a new research along a similar line.

An intermediate evaluation is aimed basically at helping to decide to go on, or to reorient the course of the research.

Such objectives are examined in detail below, in the pages on evaluation of research projects ex ante and on evaluation of projects ex post . A final section deals briefly with intermediate evaluation.

Importance of project evaluation

Evaluating research projects is a fundamental dimension in the evaluation of development research, for basically two reasons:

many of our evaluation concepts and practices are derived from our experience with research projects,
evaluation of projects is essential for achieving our long term goal of maintaining and improving the quality of development research - and particularly of strengthening research capacity .

Dimensions of the evaluation of development research projects

Scientific quality is a basic requirement for all scientific research projects, and the role of publications is here determinant. Such is obviously the case of ex post evaluation, but publications are also necessary in the case of ex ante situations, where the evaluator needs to trust to a certain extent the proposal's authors, and will largely take into account their past publications.

For more details see the page on evaluation of scientific publications and the annexes on scientific quality and on valorisation .

While scientific quality is a necessary dimension in each evaluation of a development research project, it is not sufficient. An equally indispensable dimension is relevance to development.

Other dimensions will be justified by the context, the evaluation's objectives, the evaluation sponsor's requirements, etc.

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What is Project Evaluation? The Complete Guide with Templates

Project evaluation is an important part of determining the success or failure of a project. Properly evaluating a project helps you understand what worked well and what could be improved for future projects. This blog post will provide an overview of key components of project evaluation and how to conduct effective evaluations.

What is Project Evaluation?

Project evaluation is a key part of assessing the success, progress and areas for improvement of a project. It involves determining how well a project is meeting its goals and objectives. Evaluation helps determine if a project is worth continuing, needs adjustments, or should be discontinued.

A good evaluation plan is developed at the start of a project. It outlines the criteria that will be used to judge the project’s performance and success. Evaluation criteria can include things like:

Meeting timelines and budgets - Were milestones and deadlines met? Was the project completed within budget?
Delivering expected outputs and outcomes - Were the intended products, results and benefits achieved?
Satisfying stakeholder needs - Were customers, users and other stakeholders satisfied with the project results?
Achieving quality standards - Were quality metrics and standards defined and met?
Demonstrating effectiveness - Did the project accomplish its intended purpose?

Project evaluation provides valuable insights that can be applied to the current project and future projects. It helps organizations learn from their projects and continuously improve their processes and outcomes.

Project Evaluation Templates

These templates will help you evaluate your project by providing a clear structure to assess how it was planned, carried out, and what it achieved. Whether you’re managing the project, part of the team, or a stakeholder, these template assist in gathering information systematically for a thorough evaluation.

Project Evaluation Template 1

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Project Evaluation Template 2

Project Evaluation Methods

Project evaluation involves using various methods to assess the performance and impact of a project. The choice of methods depends on the nature of the project, its objectives, and the available resources. Here are some common project evaluation methods:

Pre-project evaluation

Pre-project evaluations are done before a project begins. This involves evaluating the project plan, scope, objectives, resources, and budget. This helps determine if the project is feasible and identifies any potential issues or risks upfront. It establishes a baseline for later evaluations.

Ongoing evaluation

Ongoing evaluations happen during the project lifecycle. Regular status reports track progress against the project plan, budget, and deadlines. Any deviations or issues are identified and corrective actions can be taken promptly. This allows projects to stay on track and make adjustments as needed.

Post-project evaluation

Post-project evaluations occur after a project is complete. This final assessment determines if the project objectives were achieved and customer requirements were met. Key metrics like timeliness, budget, and quality are examined. Lessons learned are documented to improve processes for future projects. Stakeholder feedback is gathered through surveys, interviews, or focus groups .

Project Evaluation Steps

When evaluating a project, there are several key steps you should follow. These steps will help you determine if the project was successful and identify areas for improvement in future initiatives.

Step 1: Set clear goals

The first step is establishing clear goals and objectives for the project before it begins. Make sure these objectives are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Having clear goals from the outset provides a benchmark for measuring success later on.

Step 2: Monitor progress

Once the project is underway, the next step is monitoring progress. Check in regularly with your team to see if you’re on track to meet your objectives and deadlines. Identify and address any issues as early as possible before they become major roadblocks. Monitoring progress also allows you to course correct if needed.

Step 3: Collect data

After the project is complete, collect all relevant data and metrics. This includes both quantitative data like budget information, timelines and deliverables, as well customer feedback and qualitative data from surveys or interviews. Analyzing this data will show you how well the project performed against your original objectives.

Step 4: Analyze and interpret

Identify what worked well and what didn’t during the project. Highlight best practices to replicate and lessons learned to improve future initiatives. Get feedback from all stakeholders involved, including project team members, customers and management.

Step 5: Develop an action plan

Develop an action plan to apply what you’ve learned for the next project. Update processes, procedures and resource allocations based on your evaluation. Communicate changes across your organization and train employees on any new best practices. Implementing these changes will help you avoid similar issues the next time around.

Benefits of Project Evaluation

Project evaluation is a valuable tool for organizations, helping them learn, adapt, and improve their project outcomes over time. Here are some benefits of project evaluation.

Helps in making informed decisions by providing a clear understanding of the project’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
Holds the project team accountable for meeting goals and using resources effectively, fostering a sense of responsibility.
Facilitates organizational learning by capturing valuable insights and lessons from both successful and challenging aspects of the project.
Allows for the efficient allocation of resources by identifying areas where adjustments or reallocations may be needed.
Provides evidence of the project’s value by assessing its impact, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with organizational objectives.
Involves stakeholders in the evaluation process, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that diverse perspectives are considered.

Project Evaluation Best Practices

Follow these best practices to do a more effective and meaningful project evaluation, leading to better project outcomes and organizational learning.

Clear objectives : Clearly define the goals and questions you want the evaluation to answer.
Involve stakeholders : Include the perspectives of key stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive evaluation.
Use appropriate methods : Choose evaluation methods that suit your objectives and available resources.
Timely data collection : Collect data at relevant points in the project timeline to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Thorough analysis : Analyze the collected data thoroughly to draw meaningful conclusions and insights.
Actionable recommendations : Provide practical recommendations that can lead to tangible improvements in future projects.
Learn and adapt : Use evaluation findings to learn from both successes and challenges, adapting practices for continuous improvement.
Document lessons : Document lessons learned from the evaluation process for organizational knowledge and future reference.

How to Use Creately to Evaluate Your Projects

Use Creately’s visual collaboration platform to evaluate your project and improve communication, streamline collaboration, and provide a visual representation of project data effectively.

Task tracking and assignment

Use the built-in project management tools to create, assign, and track tasks right on the canvas. Assign responsibilities, set due dates, and monitor progress with Agile Kanban boards, Gantt charts, timelines and more. Create task cards containing detailed information, descriptions, due dates, and assigned responsibilities.

Notes and attachments

Record additional details and attach documents, files, and screenshots related to your tasks and projects with per item integrated notes panel and custom data fields. Or easily embed files and attachments right on the workspace to centralize project information. Work together on project evaluation with teammates with full multiplayer text and visual collaboration.

Real-time collaboration

Get any number of participants on the same workspace and track their additions to the progress report in real-time. Collaborate with others in the project seamlessly with true multi-user collaboration features including synced previews and comments and discussion threads. Use Creately’s Microsoft Teams integration to brainstorm, plan, run projects during meetings.

Pre-made templates

Get a head start with ready-to-use progress evaluation templates and other project documentation templates available right inside the app. Explore 1000s more templates and examples for various scenarios in the community.

In summary, project evaluation is like a compass for projects, helping teams understand what worked well and what can be improved. It’s a tool that guides organizations to make better decisions and succeed in future projects. By learning from the past and continuously improving, project evaluation becomes a key factor in the ongoing journey of project management, ensuring teams stay on the path of excellence and growth.

More project management related guides

8 Essential Metrics to Measure Project Success
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How to Create a Winning Project Charter: Your Blueprint for Success
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What is a Work Breakdown Structure? and How To Create a WBS?
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Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

Why conduct evaluation research & when?

Conducting evaluation research is an effective way of usability testing and cost-effectiveness of the current project or product. Findings gathered from evaluative research play a key role in assessing what works and what doesn't and identifying areas of improvement for sponsors and administrators. This type of evaluation is a good means for data collection, and it provides a concrete result for decision-making processes.

There are different methods to collect feedback ranging from online surveys to focus groups. Evaluation research is best used when:

You are planning a different approach
You want to make sure everything is going as you want them to
You want to prove the effectiveness of an activity to the stakeholders and administrators
You want to set realistic goals for the future.
Methods to conduct an evaluation research

When you want to conduct evaluation research, there are different types of evaluation research methods . You can go through possible methods and choose the most suitable one(s) for you according to your target audience, manpower, and budget to go through with the research steps. Let us look at the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.

Quantitative methods

These are the type of methods that asks questions to get tangible answers that rely on numerical data and statistical analysis to draw conclusions . These questions can be “ How many people? ”, “ What is the price? ”, “ What is the profit rate? ” etc. Therefore, they provide researchers with quantitative data to draw concrete conclusions. Now, let us look at the quantitative research methods.

1 - Online surveys

Surveys involve collecting data from a large number of people using appropriate evaluation questions to gather accurate feedback . This type of method allows for reaching a wider audience in a short time in a cost-effective manner. You can ask about various topics, from user satisfaction to market research. And, It would be quite helpful to use a free survey maker such as forms.app to help with your next research!

2 - Phone surveys

Phone surveys are a type of survey that involves conducting interviews with participants over the phone . They are a form of quantitative research and are commonly used by organizations and researchers to collect data from people in a short time. During a phone survey, a trained interviewer will call the participant and ask them a series of questions.

Qualitative methods

This type of research method basically aims to explore audience feedback. These methods are used to study phenomena that cannot be easily measured using statistical techniques, such as opinions, attitudes, and behaviors . Techniques such as observation, interviews, and case studies are used to form evaluation for this method.

1 - Case studies

Case studies involve the analysis of a single case or a small number of cases to be explored further. In a case study, the researcher collects data from a variety of sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents. The data collected from case studies are often analyzed to identify patterns and themes .

2 - Focus groups

Using focus groups means having a small group of people and presenting them with a certain topic. A focus group usually consists of 6-10 people. The focus groups are introduced to a topic, product, or concept, and they present their reviews . Focus groups are a good way to obtain data as the responses are immediate. This method is commonly used by businesses to gain insight into their customers.

Evaluation research examples

Conducting evaluation research has helped many businesses to further themselves in the market because a big part of success comes from listening to your audience. For example, Lego found out that only around %10 of their customers were girls in 2011. They wanted to expand their audience. So, Lego conducted evaluation research to find and launch products that will appeal to girls.

Surveys questions to use in your own evaluation research

No matter the type of method you decide to go with, there are some essential questions you should include in your research process. If you prepare your questions beforehand and ask the same questions to all participants/customers, you will end up with a uniform set of answers. That will allow you to form a better judgment. Now, here are some good questions to include:

1 - How often do you use the product?

2 - How satisfied are you with the features of the product?

3 - How would you rate the product on a scale of 1-5?

4 - How easy is it to use our product/service?

5 - How was your experience completing tasks using the product?

6 - Will you recommend this product to others?

7 - Are you excited about using the product in the future?

8 - What would you like to change in the product/project?

9 - Did the program produce the intended outcomes?

10 - What were the unintended outcomes?

What’s the difference between generative vs. evaluative research?

Generative research is conducted to generate new ideas or hypotheses by understanding your users' motivations, pain points, and behaviors. The goal of generative research is to define the possible research questions and develop new theories and plan the best possible solution for those problems . Generative research is often used at the beginning of a research project or product.

Evaluative research, on the other hand, is conducted to measure the effectiveness of a project or program. The goal of evaluative research is to measure whether the existing project, program, or product has achieved its intended objectives . This method is used to assess the project at hand to ensure it is usable, works as intended, and meets users' demands and expectations. This type of research will play a role in deciding whether to continue, modify, or put an to the project.

You can determine either to use generative or evaluation research by figuring out what you need to find out. However, of course, both methods can be useful throughout the research process in obtaining different types of evidence. Therefore, firstly determine your goal of conducting evaluation research, and then you can decide on the method to go with.

Conducting evaluation research means making sure everything is going as you want them to in your project or finding areas of improvement for your next steps. There are more than one methods to go with. You can do focus groups or case studies on collecting opinions, or you can do online surveys to get tangible answers.

If you choose to do online surveys, you can try forms.app, as it is one of the best survey makers out there. It has more than 1000 ready-to-go templates. If you wish to know more about forms.app, you can check out our article on user experience questions !

Defne is a content writer at forms.app. She is also a translator specializing in literary translation. Defne loves reading, writing, and translating professionally and as a hobby. Her expertise lies in survey research, research methodologies, content writing, and translation.

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Project Evaluation Process: Definition, Methods & Steps

Managing a project with copious moving parts can be challenging to say the least, but project evaluation is designed to make the process that much easier. Every project starts with careful planning —t his sets the stage for the execution phase of the project while estimations, plans and schedules guide the project team as they complete tasks and deliverables.

But even with the project evaluation process in place, managing a project successfully is not as simple as it sounds. Project managers need to keep track of costs , tasks and time during the entire project life cycle to make sure everything goes as planned. To do so, they utilize the project evaluation process and make use of project management software to help manage their team’s work in addition to planning and evaluating project performance.

What Is Project Evaluation?

Project evaluation is the process of measuring the success of a project, program or portfolio . This is done by gathering data about the project and using an evaluation method that allows evaluators to find performance improvement opportunities. Project evaluation is also critical to keep stakeholders updated on the project status and any changes that might be required to the budget or schedule.

Every aspect of the project such as costs, scope, risks or return on investment (ROI) is measured to determine if it’s proceeding as planned. If there are road bumps, this data can inform how projects can improve. Basically, you’re asking the project a series of questions designed to discover what is working, what can be improved and whether the project is useful. Tools such as project dashboards and trackers help in the evaluation process by making key data readily available.

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Project Review Template

Use this free Project Review Template for Word to manage your projects better.

The project evaluation process has been around as long as projects themselves. But when it comes to the science of project management , project evaluation can be broken down into three main types or methods: pre-project evaluation, ongoing evaluation and post-project evaluation. Let’s look at the project evaluation process, what it entails and how you can improve your technique.

Project Evaluation Criteria

The specific details of the project evaluation criteria vary from one project or one organization to another. In general terms, a project evaluation process goes over the project constraints including time, cost, scope, resources, risk and quality. In addition, organizations may add their own business goals, strategic objectives and other project metrics .

Project Evaluation Methods

There are three points in a project where evaluation is most needed. While you can evaluate your project at any time, these are points where you should have the process officially scheduled.

1. Pre-Project Evaluation

In a sense, you’re pre-evaluating your project when you write your project charter to pitch to the stakeholders. You cannot effectively plan, staff and control a new project if you’ve first not evaluated it. Pre-project evaluation is the only sure way you can determine the effectiveness of the project before executing it.

2. Ongoing Project Evaluation

To make sure your project is proceeding as planned and hitting all of the scheduling and budget milestones you’ve set, it’s crucial that you constantly monitor and report on your work in real-time. Only by using project metrics can you measure the success of your project and whether or not you’re meeting the project’s goals and objectives. It’s strongly recommended that you use project management dashboards and tracking tools for ongoing evaluation.

Related: Free Project Dashboard Template for Excel

3. Post-Project Evaluation

Think of this as a postmortem. Post-project evaluation is when you go through the project’s paperwork, interview the project team and principles and analyze all relevant data so you can understand what worked and what went wrong. Only by developing this clear picture can you resolve issues in upcoming projects.

Free Project Review Template for Word

The project review template for Word is the perfect way to evaluate your project, whether it’s an ongoing project evaluation or post-project. It takes a holistic approach to project evaluation and covers such areas as goals, risks, staffing, resources and more. Download yours today.

Project Evaluation Steps

Regardless of when you choose to run a project evaluation, the process always has four phases: planning, implementation, completion and dissemination of reports.

1. Planning

The ultimate goal of this step is to create a project evaluation plan, a document that explains all details of your organization’s project evaluation process. When planning for a project evaluation, it’s important to identify the stakeholders and what their short-and-long-term goals are. You must make sure that your goals and objectives for the project are clear, and it’s critical to have settled on criteria that will tell you whether these goals and objects are being met.

So, you’ll want to write a series of questions to pose to the stakeholders. These queries should include subjects such as the project framework, best practices and metrics that determine success.

By including the stakeholders in your project evaluation plan, you’ll receive direction during the course of the project while simultaneously developing a relationship with the stakeholders. They will get progress reports from you throughout the project life cycle , and by building this initial relationship, you’ll likely earn their belief that you can manage the project to their satisfaction.

2. Implementation

While the project is running, you must monitor all aspects to make sure you’re meeting the schedule and budget. One of the things you should monitor during the project is the percentage completed. This is something you should do when creating status reports and meeting with your team. To make sure you’re on track, hold the team accountable for delivering timely tasks and maintain baseline dates to know when tasks are due.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on quality. It doesn’t matter if you deliver the project within the allotted time frame if the product is poor. Maintain quality reviews, and don’t delegate that responsibility. Instead, take it on yourself.

Maintaining a close relationship with the project budget is just as important as tracking the schedule and quality. Keep an eye on costs. They will fluctuate throughout the project, so don’t panic. However, be transparent if you notice a need growing for more funds. Let your steering committee know as soon as possible, so there are no surprises.

3. Completion

When you’re done with your project, you still have work to do. You’ll want to take the data you gathered in the evaluation and learn from it so you can fix problems that you discovered in the process. Figure out the short- and long-term impacts of what you learned in the evaluation.

4. Reporting and Disseminating

Once the evaluation is complete, you need to record the results. To do so, you’ll create a project evaluation report, a document that provides lessons for the future. Deliver your report to your stakeholders to keep them updated on the project’s progress.

How are you going to disseminate the report? There might be a protocol for this already established in your organization. Perhaps the stakeholders prefer a meeting to get the results face-to-face. Or maybe they prefer PDFs with easy-to-read charts and graphs. Make sure that you know your audience and tailor your report to them.

Benefits of Project Evaluation

Project evaluation is always advisable and it can bring a wide array of benefits to your organization. As noted above, there are many aspects that can be measured through the project evaluation process. It’s up to you and your stakeholders to decide the most critical factors to consider. Here are some of the main benefits of implementing a project evaluation process.

Better Project Management: Project evaluation helps you easily find areas of improvement when it comes to managing your costs , tasks, resources and time.
Improves Team performance: Project evaluation allows you to keep track of your team’s performance and increases accountability.
Better Project Planning: Helps you compare your project baseline against actual project performance for better planning and estimating.
Helps with Stakeholder Management: Having a good relationship with stakeholders is key to success as a project manager. Creating a project evaluation report is very important to keep them updated.

How ProjectManager Improves the Project Evaluation Process

To take your project evaluation to the next level, you’ll want ProjectManager , an online work management tool with live dashboards that deliver real-time data so you can monitor what’s happening now as opposed to what happened yesterday.

With ProjectManager’s real-time dashboard, project evaluation is measured in real-time to keep you updated. The numbers are then displayed in colorful graphs and charts. Filter the data to show the data you want or to drill down to get a deeper picture. These graphs and charts can also be shared with a keystroke. You can track workload and tasks, because your team is updating their status in real-time, wherever they are and at whatever time they complete their work.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

Project evaluation with ProjectManager’s real-time dashboard makes it simple to go through the evaluation process during the evolution of the project. It also provides valuable data afterward. The project evaluation process can even be fun, given the right tools. Feel free to use our automated reporting tools to quickly build traditional project reports, allowing you to improve both the accuracy and efficiency of your evaluation process.

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Evaluation Questions: A Guide to Designing Effective Evaluation Questions
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Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an essential part of any project or program. It helps us understand the progress and impact of our efforts and identify areas for improvement. But what are the key evaluation questions to ask in order to effectively monitor and evaluate a project or program? In this article, we’ll look at some of the main questions to consider when setting up an M&E system.

Table of Contents

What are evaluation questions?

Understanding the purpose of evaluation questions for m&e, how do you develop questions for your evaluation, crafting appropriate questions for the evaluation, 3 types of evaluation questions, write evaluation questions with your stakeholders, evaluation questions for the main types of evaluation .

Process evaluation Questions
Outcome evaluation (or impact evaluation) Questions
Economic evaluation (cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis) Questions

Appropriateness, effectiveness, and efficiency

Analyzing the results of your evaluation questions.

The evaluation questions are the high-level questions that an evaluation is designed to answer. It is important to distinguish between evaluation questions and interview questions. Evaluation questions are the high-level questions that an evaluation is intended to answer, while interviews or questionnaires ask specific questions.

Evaluation questions are a key component of the monitoring and evaluation process. They are used to assess the progress and performance of a project, program, or policy, and to identify areas for improvement. Evaluation questions can be qualitative or quantitative in nature and should be designed to measure the effectiveness of the intervention and its impact on the target population.

Evaluation questions should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. They should also be framed in a way that allows for comparison of pre-and post-intervention data. By using evaluation questions, organizations can ensure that the monitoring and evaluation process is comprehensive and effective.

In addition to helping focus your evaluation, evaluation questions should be created so that they reflect not only the purpose of the evaluation but also the priorities and needs of the stakeholders involved in the evaluation.

Evaluating data collected through M&E processes is an important part of understanding and measuring the success of a project or program. When forming evaluation questions, it’s important to consider the scope of the project, the intended objectives and outcomes, and any resources available for research or data collection. Evaluation questions should also be structured to allow for a simple yes or no response, or a multiple-choice format if appropriate. The answers to these questions can then be interpreted and used to inform decisions on how to refine or improve projects in the future.

Evaluation questions should be designed to help assess the effectiveness of a program by capturing feedback on whether it is achieving its desired outcomes, identify potential areas for improvement and guide decision-making moving forward Also, evaluation questions should be planned in advance to make sure that they accurately reflect the program’s goals and help to determine the success of any changes implemented. They should be designed to capture feedback on whether the program is achieving its desired outcomes, identify areas of improvement and provide insights that help inform the decision-making process. Evaluation questions are an important tool for understanding the effectiveness of a program’s design and implementation.

When it comes to developing questions for your evaluation, it is important to focus on the specific objectives you are trying to measure. Every question should be designed to assess the success of the project or program.

Start by brainstorming a list of potential questions that you think would be relevant to the evaluation. Once you have a list of potential questions, review each one and decide if it is relevant and appropriate. Consider the type of response you are looking for when crafting each question. Make sure to keep the questions as clear and concise as possible.

Finally, test the questions with a small sample of people to ensure that the questions are being understood correctly. By taking the time to develop meaningful questions for your evaluation, you will be able to obtain accurate and valuable. Here are some steps to point out:

Write evaluation questions with your stakeholders. Ensure that your logic model has been reviewed by key stakeholders and involves key stakeholders
Brainstorm Evaluation Questions
Classify your questions into different categories
Determine what questions should be prioritized for evaluation

When crafting appropriate evaluation questions for an assessment, it’s important to consider the purpose of the evaluation and the type of data you want to collect. Questions should be clear, direct, and easy to understand while also being applicable to the desired outcome. Depending on the type of evaluation you are conducting, consider if you should ask open-ended or closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions can provide more detailed and nuanced answers, whereas closed-ended questions can provide quantitative data that can be easier to analyze. Additionally, it is important to consider if the evaluation questions should be tailored to different groups within the population being evaluated so that results are more reflective of specific segments of the population. By taking these factors into consideration when crafting evaluation questions, you can ensure that you are able to gain meaningful insight from your assessment.

For example, when evaluating a training program, open-ended questions can be used to capture qualitative feedback from participants, while quantitative questions should be used to collect direct assessments of learning or performance measures. Again when evaluating a training program, it is important to consider both qualitative and quantitative assessment. Utilizing open-ended questions can help capture the participant’s subjective experience, while quantitative questions can be used to measure direct outcomes of the training. This dual approach to evaluation will provide the most accurate and comprehensive assessment of the program.

An evaluation process should also consider if the questions are relevant to the topic being evaluated, whether they are clear and unbiased in their terminology, and if they are structured in such a way that answers can be accurately collected and analyzed. Taking into account these factors will allow for more successful evaluation questions that yield reliable results.

Descriptive questions . Represent “what is”

Examples – Descriptive Questions

What are the primary activities of the program
What do stakeholder groups see as the goals of the program?
Where has the program been implemented?
Who received what services?

Normative questions – ” Comparisons of “what is” to “what should be”

Examples – Normative Questions

To what extent was the budget spent efficiently?
Did the project spend as much as was budgeted?
To what extent was the program gender equitable?
To what extent was the target of vaccinating 90% of the nation’s children met?

Cause and Effect questions – Identify if results have been achieved due to the intervention

Seek to determine what difference the intervention made • Eliminate all other possible explanations • Ask if the desired results have been achieved AND whether it is the intervention that has caused results • Suggest before & after and with & without comparisons • Impact Evaluations focus on cause and effect questions.

Examples – Cause and Effect Questions

As a result of the job training program, do participants have higher-paying jobs than they otherwise would have?
Did the three-country partnership strategy preserve the biodiversity of the affected area while sustaining livelihoods?
Did the increased tax on gasoline improve air quality?

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It’s important to involve stakeholders in the development of evaluation questions to ensure that their perspectives and priorities are incorporated into the evaluation design. Stakeholders may include program staff, participants, funders, community members, and other relevant stakeholders.

Here are some examples of evaluation questions that could be developed with stakeholders:

Did the program achieve its intended outcomes?
How well did the program meet the needs of its target population?
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the program design?
How effective were the program’s strategies and activities in achieving its objectives?
How did the program impact the community or larger system in which it operates?
To what extent did the program address issues of equity and inclusion?
What were the key barriers or challenges to program implementation and how were they addressed?
How well was the program monitored and evaluated throughout its implementation?
What lessons were learned from program implementation that could inform future programs or initiatives?
Were the program’s resources allocated effectively and efficiently to achieve its objectives?

Process evaluation questions

Process evaluation , or how the program addresses the problem, what it does, what the program services are and how the program operates. Process evaluation questions focus on how a program is working, program performance, and involve extensive monitoring. Similarly, formative evaluation questions look at whether program activities occur according to plan or the project is achieving its goals while it is underway. Some sample questions are:

Some sample questions are:

How is the program being implemented? Is the program being implemented correctly?
What are the underlying assumptions of the project/ program?
Are objectives met? If so, how? If not, why not?
Are activities conducted with the target population?
How appropriate are the processes compared with quality standards?
Are there other populations the program should be working with?
Is the target population adequately reached by and involved in activities?
Are participants being reached as intended?
How does the target population interact with the program?
What do they think of the services? How satisfied are clients?
How is the project functioning from administrative, organizational, and/or personnel perspectives?
What has been done in an innovative way?

Outcome evaluation (or impact evaluation) questions

4. Impact/ outcome evaluation , or how does the program reach its outcomes or impact? The evaluation questions may also be used in summative evaluations which focus on what happened after the program or project completed, i.e., were goals achieved? And what can be learned? Some sample questions are:

What are the outputs, outcomes, objectives, and goals of the project?
Are outcomes, objectives, and goals achieved?
Are the project/program services/activities beneficial to the target population?
Do they have negative effects? e. Is the target population affected by the project/ program equitably or according to the evaluation plan?
Is the problem that the project/ program intends to address alleviated?

How well did the program work?

Did the program produce or contribute to the intended outcomes in the short, medium and long term?

For whom, in what ways and in what circumstances? What unintended outcomes (positive and negative) were produced?

To what extent can changes be attributed to the program?

What were the particular features of the program and context that made a difference?

What was the influence of other factors?

Economic evaluation (cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis) questions

Assessment of efficiency , or how cost-effective is the program. Sample questions are:

Is the cost of the services or activities reasonable in relation to the benefits?
Are there alternative approaches that could have the same outcomes with less cost?*

Through asking questions, M&E practitioners can identify what their project specifically should address. According to Owen and Rogers (1999), there are three levels of evaluation questions at this stage in project planning:

Policy level – how does, or could, the evaluation impact relevant policy?
Program level (regional, large scale, “Big P”) – how does, or could, the evaluation effect program changes?
Project level (local, activity based, “little p”) – how does, or could, the evaluation effect project or local changes?**

The best questions must be developed with stakeholders in the evaluation, including program staff, sponsors and funders, local and regional decision-makers within and outside the program, and community representatives, when the community in which the evaluation or project will be carried out has already been identified. These consultations may be informal conversations, reviewing grant requirements and terms of reference (documentation review), or semi-structured individual and/or group interviewing. The evaluator consults with all accessible stakeholders to develop specific questions that the evaluation will seek to answer. According to Rossi, Freeman, and Lipsey (1999), evaluation questions must be:

Reasonable and appropriate, or realistic in the given project or program.
Answerable, similar to the reasonableness of a question, good evaluation questions must be able to be answered to some degree of certainty. If questions are too vague or broad, or require data that is unavailable or unobservable, they are not answerable.
Based on program goals and objectives.

Once we have developed the larger question of the project, M&E practitioners begin to consider what data they need to answer the question, using a Theory of Change and a LogFrame .

What has been the ratio of costs to benefits?
What is the most cost-effective option?
Has the intervention been cost-effective (compared to alternatives)?
Is the program the best use of resources?

Three broad categories of key evaluation questions are often used to assess whether the program is appropriate, effective and efficient .

Organising key evaluation questions under these categories, allows an assessment of the degree to which a particular program in particular circumstances is appropriate, effective and efficient. Suitable questions under these categories will vary with the different types of evaluation (process, outcome or economic).

Appropriateness

To what extent does the program address an identified need?
How well does the program align with government and agency priorities?
Does the program represent a legitimate role for government?

Effectiveness

To what extent is the program achieving the intended outcomes, in the short, medium and long term?
To what extent is the program producing worthwhile results (outputs, outcomes) and/or meeting each of its objectives?
Do the outcomes of the program represent value for money?
To what extent is the relationship between inputs and outputs timely, cost-effective and to expected standards?

A key component of evaluating the results of your evaluation questions is to review the responses you received to see what patterns emerge. Doing so can provide valuable insights such as areas of strength, weaknesses, and potential improvement opportunities. To ensure you are collecting the most useful data possible, it’s important to ask questions that are well-crafted, relevant, and focused on the end result you’re hoping to achieve. Additionally, providing a variety of question formats can be beneficial in ensuring you capture responses from participants in different ways. Finally, having a clear plan for how you will review and analyze the responses you receive is key to ensuring your evaluation questions are effective.

Studying these patterns that are revealed in the responses can help inform a better understanding of your evaluation questions and their effectiveness in obtaining useful feedback from your respondents Meanwhile, it is important to consider the effects of the evaluation questions and analyze the patterns that are shown in the responses. This can help to inform a better understanding of the evaluation questions and their effectiveness in obtaining useful feedback from respondents. By studying these patterns, businesses can ensure they are obtaining meaningful feedback which will help them to improve their services over time.

Next topics on this discourse:

Understanding the Importance of Evaluation Questions in Program Evaluation
Types of Evaluation Questions and How to Choose Them
Best Practices for Designing Effective Evaluation Questions
Methods for Collecting Data from Evaluation Questions
Analyzing and Interpreting Data from Evaluation Questions
Using Evaluation Questions to Improve Program Outcomes
Common Challenges in Designing and Using Evaluation Questions
Examples of Effective Evaluation Questions in Program Evaluation

10 comments

This was a great read. Learn new questions that could have been asked in some evaluations I worked on.

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you Jannet, I am so interested to read that!

Robert E Tornberg

I will be sharing this article with my students who struggle to create good EQs. I believe it will help them a great deal. Thank you!

Excelent article. Will share with students

Alberto Lopez

Excellent resource, It will be nice to have examples of evaluation questions applied to specific type of projects

Fation Luli

Hello Alberto, Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad to hear that you found it helpful.

You raise a great point about having specific examples of evaluation questions applied to different types of projects. Providing examples can help readers better understand how to apply the concepts in the resource to their own projects. Here are some examples of evaluation questions that could be applied to different types of projects:

Non-profit program evaluation: To what extent did the program achieve its intended outcomes? What were the key factors that contributed to the program’s success or challenges? What lessons were learned from the program’s implementation that can inform future programs?

Education program evaluation: How effective was the program in improving student learning outcomes? Were the program’s activities and resources aligned with the intended learning objectives? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the program’s implementation, and how could it be improved in the future?

These are just a few examples, but I hope they provide a starting point for thinking about how to develop evaluation questions for different types of projects. Remember that effective evaluation questions are specific, measurable, and tied to the project’s goals and objectives.

Jesús Ventura

Seria interesante verlo en un PDF, para trabajarlo en cualquier momento

so great and helpful thanks

Fantastic note. Thank you for sharing.

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National Research Council (US) Panel on the Evaluation of AIDS Interventions; Coyle SL, Boruch RF, Turner CF, editors. Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs: Expanded Edition. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1991.

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Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs: Expanded Edition.

Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press

1 Design and Implementation of Evaluation Research

Evaluation has its roots in the social, behavioral, and statistical sciences, and it relies on their principles and methodologies of research, including experimental design, measurement, statistical tests, and direct observation. What distinguishes evaluation research from other social science is that its subjects are ongoing social action programs that are intended to produce individual or collective change. This setting usually engenders a great need for cooperation between those who conduct the program and those who evaluate it. This need for cooperation can be particularly acute in the case of AIDS prevention programs because those programs have been developed rapidly to meet the urgent demands of a changing and deadly epidemic.

Although the characteristics of AIDS intervention programs place some unique demands on evaluation, the techniques for conducting good program evaluation do not need to be invented. Two decades of evaluation research have provided a basic conceptual framework for undertaking such efforts (see, e.g., Campbell and Stanley [1966] and Cook and Campbell [1979] for discussions of outcome evaluation; see Weiss [1972] and Rossi and Freeman [1982] for process and outcome evaluations); in addition, similar programs, such as the antismoking campaigns, have been subject to evaluation, and they offer examples of the problems that have been encountered.

In this chapter the panel provides an overview of the terminology, types, designs, and management of research evaluation. The following chapter provides an overview of program objectives and the selection and measurement of appropriate outcome variables for judging the effectiveness of AIDS intervention programs. These issues are discussed in detail in the subsequent, program-specific Chapters 3 - 5 .

Types of Evaluation

The term evaluation implies a variety of different things to different people. The recent report of the Committee on AIDS Research and the Behavioral, Social, and Statistical Sciences defines the area through a series of questions (Turner, Miller, and Moses, 1989:317-318):

Evaluation is a systematic process that produces a trustworthy account of what was attempted and why; through the examination of results—the outcomes of intervention programs—it answers the questions, "What was done?" "To whom, and how?" and "What outcomes were observed?'' Well-designed evaluation permits us to draw inferences from the data and addresses the difficult question: ''What do the outcomes mean?"

These questions differ in the degree of difficulty of answering them. An evaluation that tries to determine the outcomes of an intervention and what those outcomes mean is a more complicated endeavor than an evaluation that assesses the process by which the intervention was delivered. Both kinds of evaluation are necessary because they are intimately connected: to establish a project's success, an evaluator must first ask whether the project was implemented as planned and then whether its objective was achieved. Questions about a project's implementation usually fall under the rubric of process evaluation . If the investigation involves rapid feedback to the project staff or sponsors, particularly at the earliest stages of program implementation, the work is called formative evaluation . Questions about effects or effectiveness are often variously called summative evaluation, impact assessment, or outcome evaluation, the term the panel uses.

Formative evaluation is a special type of early evaluation that occurs during and after a program has been designed but before it is broadly implemented. Formative evaluation is used to understand the need for the intervention and to make tentative decisions about how to implement or improve it. During formative evaluation, information is collected and then fed back to program designers and administrators to enhance program development and maximize the success of the intervention. For example, formative evaluation may be carried out through a pilot project before a program is implemented at several sites. A pilot study of a community-based organization (CBO), for example, might be used to gather data on problems involving access to and recruitment of targeted populations and the utilization and implementation of services; the findings of such a study would then be used to modify (if needed) the planned program.

Another example of formative evaluation is the use of a "story board" design of a TV message that has yet to be produced. A story board is a series of text and sketches of camera shots that are to be produced in a commercial. To evaluate the effectiveness of the message and forecast some of the consequences of actually broadcasting it to the general public, an advertising agency convenes small groups of people to react to and comment on the proposed design.

Once an intervention has been implemented, the next stage of evaluation is process evaluation, which addresses two broad questions: "What was done?" and "To whom, and how?" Ordinarily, process evaluation is carried out at some point in the life of a project to determine how and how well the delivery goals of the program are being met. When intervention programs continue over a long period of time (as is the case for some of the major AIDS prevention programs), measurements at several times are warranted to ensure that the components of the intervention continue to be delivered by the right people, to the right people, in the right manner, and at the right time. Process evaluation can also play a role in improving interventions by providing the information necessary to change delivery strategies or program objectives in a changing epidemic.

Research designs for process evaluation include direct observation of projects, surveys of service providers and clients, and the monitoring of administrative records. The panel notes that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is already collecting some administrative records on its counseling and testing program and community-based projects. The panel believes that this type of evaluation should be a continuing and expanded component of intervention projects to guarantee the maintenance of the projects' integrity and responsiveness to their constituencies.

The purpose of outcome evaluation is to identify consequences and to establish that consequences are, indeed, attributable to a project. This type of evaluation answers the questions, "What outcomes were observed?" and, perhaps more importantly, "What do the outcomes mean?" Like process evaluation, outcome evaluation can also be conducted at intervals during an ongoing program, and the panel believes that such periodic evaluation should be done to monitor goal achievement.

The panel believes that these stages of evaluation (i.e., formative, process, and outcome) are essential to learning how AIDS prevention programs contribute to containing the epidemic. After a body of findings has been accumulated from such evaluations, it may be fruitful to launch another stage of evaluation: cost-effectiveness analysis (see Weinstein et al., 1989). Like outcome evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis also measures program effectiveness, but it extends the analysis by adding a measure of program cost. The panel believes that consideration of cost-effective analysis should be postponed until more experience is gained with formative, process, and outcome evaluation of the CDC AIDS prevention programs.

Evaluation Research Design

Process and outcome evaluations require different types of research designs, as discussed below. Formative evaluations, which are intended to both assess implementation and forecast effects, use a mix of these designs.

Process Evaluation Designs

To conduct process evaluations on how well services are delivered, data need to be gathered on the content of interventions and on their delivery systems. Suggested methodologies include direct observation, surveys, and record keeping.

Direct observation designs include case studies, in which participant-observers unobtrusively and systematically record encounters within a program setting, and nonparticipant observation, in which long, open-ended (or "focused") interviews are conducted with program participants. 1 For example, "professional customers" at counseling and testing sites can act as project clients to monitor activities unobtrusively; 2 alternatively, nonparticipant observers can interview both staff and clients. Surveys —either censuses (of the whole population of interest) or samples—elicit information through interviews or questionnaires completed by project participants or potential users of a project. For example, surveys within community-based projects can collect basic statistical information on project objectives, what services are provided, to whom, when, how often, for how long, and in what context.

Record keeping consists of administrative or other reporting systems that monitor use of services. Standardized reporting ensures consistency in the scope and depth of data collected. To use the media campaign as an example, the panel suggests using standardized data on the use of the AIDS hotline to monitor public attentiveness to the advertisements broadcast by the media campaign.

These designs are simple to understand, but they require expertise to implement. For example, observational studies must be conducted by people who are well trained in how to carry out on-site tasks sensitively and to record their findings uniformly. Observers can either complete narrative accounts of what occurred in a service setting or they can complete some sort of data inventory to ensure that multiple aspects of service delivery are covered. These types of studies are time consuming and benefit from corroboration among several observers. The use of surveys in research is well-understood, although they, too, require expertise to be well implemented. As the program chapters reflect, survey data collection must be carefully designed to reduce problems of validity and reliability and, if samples are used, to design an appropriate sampling scheme. Record keeping or service inventories are probably the easiest research designs to implement, although preparing standardized internal forms requires attention to detail about salient aspects of service delivery.

Outcome Evaluation Designs

Research designs for outcome evaluations are meant to assess principal and relative effects. Ideally, to assess the effect of an intervention on program participants, one would like to know what would have happened to the same participants in the absence of the program. Because it is not possible to make this comparison directly, inference strategies that rely on proxies have to be used. Scientists use three general approaches to construct proxies for use in the comparisons required to evaluate the effects of interventions: (1) nonexperimental methods, (2) quasi-experiments, and (3) randomized experiments. The first two are discussed below, and randomized experiments are discussed in the subsequent section.

Nonexperimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs 3

The most common form of nonexperimental design is a before-and-after study. In this design, pre-intervention measurements are compared with equivalent measurements made after the intervention to detect change in the outcome variables that the intervention was designed to influence.

Although the panel finds that before-and-after studies frequently provide helpful insights, the panel believes that these studies do not provide sufficiently reliable information to be the cornerstone for evaluation research on the effectiveness of AIDS prevention programs. The panel's conclusion follows from the fact that the postintervention changes cannot usually be attributed unambiguously to the intervention. 4 Plausible competing explanations for differences between pre-and postintervention measurements will often be numerous, including not only the possible effects of other AIDS intervention programs, news stories, and local events, but also the effects that may result from the maturation of the participants and the educational or sensitizing effects of repeated measurements, among others.

Quasi-experimental and matched control designs provide a separate comparison group. In these designs, the control group may be selected by matching nonparticipants to participants in the treatment group on the basis of selected characteristics. It is difficult to ensure the comparability of the two groups even when they are matched on many characteristics because other relevant factors may have been overlooked or mismatched or they may be difficult to measure (e.g., the motivation to change behavior). In some situations, it may simply be impossible to measure all of the characteristics of the units (e.g., communities) that may affect outcomes, much less demonstrate their comparability.

Matched control designs require extraordinarily comprehensive scientific knowledge about the phenomenon under investigation in order for evaluators to be confident that all of the relevant determinants of outcomes have been properly accounted for in the matching. Three types of information or knowledge are required: (1) knowledge of intervening variables that also affect the outcome of the intervention and, consequently, need adjustment to make the groups comparable; (2) measurements on all intervening variables for all subjects; and (3) knowledge of how to make the adjustments properly, which in turn requires an understanding of the functional relationship between the intervening variables and the outcome variables. Satisfying each of these information requirements is likely to be more difficult than answering the primary evaluation question, "Does this intervention produce beneficial effects?"

Given the size and the national importance of AIDS intervention programs and given the state of current knowledge about behavior change in general and AIDS prevention, in particular, the panel believes that it would be unwise to rely on matching and adjustment strategies as the primary design for evaluating AIDS intervention programs. With differently constituted groups, inferences about results are hostage to uncertainty about the extent to which the observed outcome actually results from the intervention and is not an artifact of intergroup differences that may not have been removed by matching or adjustment.

Randomized Experiments

A remedy to the inferential uncertainties that afflict nonexperimental designs is provided by randomized experiments . In such experiments, one singly constituted group is established for study. A subset of the group is then randomly chosen to receive the intervention, with the other subset becoming the control. The two groups are not identical, but they are comparable. Because they are two random samples drawn from the same population, they are not systematically different in any respect, which is important for all variables—both known and unknown—that can influence the outcome. Dividing a singly constituted group into two random and therefore comparable subgroups cuts through the tangle of causation and establishes a basis for the valid comparison of respondents who do and do not receive the intervention. Randomized experiments provide for clear causal inference by solving the problem of group comparability, and may be used to answer the evaluation questions "Does the intervention work?" and "What works better?"

Which question is answered depends on whether the controls receive an intervention or not. When the object is to estimate whether a given intervention has any effects, individuals are randomly assigned to the project or to a zero-treatment control group. The control group may be put on a waiting list or simply not get the treatment. This design addresses the question, "Does it work?"

When the object is to compare variations on a project—e.g., individual counseling sessions versus group counseling—then individuals are randomly assigned to these two regimens, and there is no zero-treatment control group. This design addresses the question, "What works better?" In either case, the control groups must be followed up as rigorously as the experimental groups.

A randomized experiment requires that individuals, organizations, or other treatment units be randomly assigned to one of two or more treatments or program variations. Random assignment ensures that the estimated differences between the groups so constituted are statistically unbiased; that is, that any differences in effects measured between them are a result of treatment. The absence of statistical bias in groups constituted in this fashion stems from the fact that random assignment ensures that there are no systematic differences between them, differences that can and usually do affect groups composed in ways that are not random. 5 The panel believes this approach is far superior for outcome evaluations of AIDS interventions than the nonrandom and quasi-experimental approaches. Therefore,

To improve interventions that are already broadly implemented, the panel recommends the use of randomized field experiments of alternative or enhanced interventions.

Under certain conditions, the panel also endorses randomized field experiments with a nontreatment control group to evaluate new interventions. In the context of a deadly epidemic, ethics dictate that treatment not be withheld simply for the purpose of conducting an experiment. Nevertheless, there may be times when a randomized field test of a new treatment with a no-treatment control group is worthwhile. One such time is during the design phase of a major or national intervention.

Before a new intervention is broadly implemented, the panel recommends that it be pilot tested in a randomized field experiment.

The panel considered the use of experiments with delayed rather than no treatment. A delayed-treatment control group strategy might be pursued when resources are too scarce for an intervention to be widely distributed at one time. For example, a project site that is waiting to receive funding for an intervention would be designated as the control group. If it is possible to randomize which projects in the queue receive the intervention, an evaluator could measure and compare outcomes after the experimental group had received the new treatment but before the control group received it. The panel believes that such a design can be applied only in limited circumstances, such as when groups would have access to related services in their communities and that conducting the study was likely to lead to greater access or better services. For example, a study cited in Chapter 4 used a randomized delayed-treatment experiment to measure the effects of a community-based risk reduction program. However, such a strategy may be impractical for several reasons, including:

sites waiting for funding for an intervention might seek resources from another source;
it might be difficult to enlist the nonfunded site and its clients to participate in the study;
there could be an appearance of favoritism toward projects whose funding was not delayed.

Although randomized experiments have many benefits, the approach is not without pitfalls. In the planning stages of evaluation, it is necessary to contemplate certain hazards, such as the Hawthorne effect 6 and differential project dropout rates. Precautions must be taken either to prevent these problems or to measure their effects. Fortunately, there is some evidence suggesting that the Hawthorne effect is usually not very large (Rossi and Freeman, 1982:175-176).

Attrition is potentially more damaging to an evaluation, and it must be limited if the experimental design is to be preserved. If sample attrition is not limited in an experimental design, it becomes necessary to account for the potentially biasing impact of the loss of subjects in the treatment and control conditions of the experiment. The statistical adjustments required to make inferences about treatment effectiveness in such circumstances can introduce uncertainties that are as worrisome as those afflicting nonexperimental and quasi-experimental designs. Thus, the panel's recommendation of the selective use of randomized design carries an implicit caveat: To realize the theoretical advantages offered by randomized experimental designs, substantial efforts will be required to ensure that the designs are not compromised by flawed execution.

Another pitfall to randomization is its appearance of unfairness or unattractiveness to participants and the controversial legal and ethical issues it sometimes raises. Often, what is being criticized is the control of project assignment of participants rather than the use of randomization itself. In deciding whether random assignment is appropriate, it is important to consider the specific context of the evaluation and how participants would be assigned to projects in the absence of randomization. The Federal Judicial Center (1981) offers five threshold conditions for the use of random assignment.

Does present practice or policy need improvement?
Is there significant uncertainty about the value of the proposed regimen?
Are there acceptable alternatives to randomized experiments?
Will the results of the experiment be used to improve practice or policy?
Is there a reasonable protection against risk for vulnerable groups (i.e., individuals within the justice system)?

The parent committee has argued that these threshold conditions apply in the case of AIDS prevention programs (see Turner, Miller, and Moses, 1989:331-333).

Although randomization may be desirable from an evaluation and ethical standpoint, and acceptable from a legal standpoint, it may be difficult to implement from a practical or political standpoint. Again, the panel emphasizes that questions about the practical or political feasibility of the use of randomization may in fact refer to the control of program allocation rather than to the issues of randomization itself. In fact, when resources are scarce, it is often more ethical and politically palatable to randomize allocation rather than to allocate on grounds that may appear biased.

It is usually easier to defend the use of randomization when the choice has to do with assignment to groups receiving alternative services than when the choice involves assignment to groups receiving no treatment. For example, in comparing a testing and counseling intervention that offered a special "skills training" session in addition to its regular services with a counseling and testing intervention that offered no additional component, random assignment of participants to one group rather than another may be acceptable to program staff and participants because the relative values of the alternative interventions are unknown.

The more difficult issue is the introduction of new interventions that are perceived to be needed and effective in a situation in which there are no services. An argument that is sometimes offered against the use of randomization in this instance is that interventions should be assigned on the basis of need (perhaps as measured by rates of HIV incidence or of high-risk behaviors). But this argument presumes that the intervention will have a positive effect—which is unknown before evaluation—and that relative need can be established, which is a difficult task in itself.

The panel recognizes that community and political opposition to randomization to zero treatments may be strong and that enlisting participation in such experiments may be difficult. This opposition and reluctance could seriously jeopardize the production of reliable results if it is translated into noncompliance with a research design. The feasibility of randomized experiments for AIDS prevention programs has already been demonstrated, however (see the review of selected experiments in Turner, Miller, and Moses, 1989:327-329). The substantial effort involved in mounting randomized field experiments is repaid by the fact that they can provide unbiased evidence of the effects of a program.

Unit of Assignment.

The unit of assignment of an experiment may be an individual person, a clinic (i.e., the clientele of the clinic), or another organizational unit (e.g., the community or city). The treatment unit is selected at the earliest stage of design. Variations of units are illustrated in the following four examples of intervention programs.

Two different pamphlets (A and B) on the same subject (e.g., testing) are distributed in an alternating sequence to individuals calling an AIDS hotline. The outcome to be measured is whether the recipient returns a card asking for more information.

Two instruction curricula (A and B) about AIDS and HIV infections are prepared for use in high school driver education classes. The outcome to be measured is a score on a knowledge test.

Of all clinics for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in a large metropolitan area, some are randomly chosen to introduce a change in the fee schedule. The outcome to be measured is the change in patient load.

A coordinated set of community-wide interventions—involving community leaders, social service agencies, the media, community associations and other groups—is implemented in one area of a city. Outcomes are knowledge as assessed by testing at drug treatment centers and STD clinics and condom sales in the community's retail outlets.

In example (1), the treatment unit is an individual person who receives pamphlet A or pamphlet B. If either "treatment" is applied again, it would be applied to a person. In example (2), the high school class is the treatment unit; everyone in a given class experiences either curriculum A or curriculum B. If either treatment is applied again, it would be applied to a class. The treatment unit is the clinic in example (3), and in example (4), the treatment unit is a community .

The consistency of the effects of a particular intervention across repetitions justly carries a heavy weight in appraising the intervention. It is important to remember that repetitions of a treatment or intervention are the number of treatment units to which the intervention is applied. This is a salient principle in the design and execution of intervention programs as well as in the assessment of their results.

The adequacy of the proposed sample size (number of treatment units) has to be considered in advance. Adequacy depends mainly on two factors:

How much variation occurs from unit to unit among units receiving a common treatment? If that variation is large, then the number of units needs to be large.
What is the minimum size of a possible treatment difference that, if present, would be practically important? That is, how small a treatment difference is it essential to detect if it is present? The smaller this quantity, the larger the number of units that are necessary.

Many formal methods for considering and choosing sample size exist (see, e.g., Cohen, 1988). Practical circumstances occasionally allow choosing between designs that involve units at different levels; thus, a classroom might be the unit if the treatment is applied in one way, but an entire school might be the unit if the treatment is applied in another. When both approaches are feasible, the use of a power analysis for each approach may lead to a reasoned choice.

Choice of Methods

There is some controversy about the advantages of randomized experiments in comparison with other evaluative approaches. It is the panel's belief that when a (well executed) randomized study is feasible, it is superior to alternative kinds of studies in the strength and clarity of whatever conclusions emerge, primarily because the experimental approach avoids selection biases. 7 Other evaluation approaches are sometimes unavoidable, but ordinarily the accumulation of valid information will go more slowly and less securely than in randomized approaches.

Experiments in medical research shed light on the advantages of carefully conducted randomized experiments. The Salk vaccine trials are a successful example of a large, randomized study. In a double-blind test of the polio vaccine, 8 children in various communities were randomly assigned to two treatments, either the vaccine or a placebo. By this method, the effectiveness of Salk vaccine was demonstrated in one summer of research (Meier, 1957).

A sufficient accumulation of relevant, observational information, especially when collected in studies using different procedures and sample populations, may also clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of a treatment or intervention. The process of accumulating such information can be a long one, however. When a (well-executed) randomized study is feasible, it can provide evidence that is subject to less uncertainty in its interpretation, and it can often do so in a more timely fashion. In the midst of an epidemic, the panel believes it proper that randomized experiments be one of the primary strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of AIDS prevention efforts. In making this recommendation, however, the panel also wishes to emphasize that the advantages of the randomized experimental design can be squandered by poor execution (e.g., by compromised assignment of subjects, significant subject attrition rates, etc.). To achieve the advantages of the experimental design, care must be taken to ensure that the integrity of the design is not compromised by poor execution.

In proposing that randomized experiments be one of the primary strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of AIDS prevention programs, the panel also recognizes that there are situations in which randomization will be impossible or, for other reasons, cannot be used. In its next report the panel will describe at length appropriate nonexperimental strategies to be considered in situations in which an experiment is not a practical or desirable alternative.

The Management of Evaluation

Conscientious evaluation requires a considerable investment of funds, time, and personnel. Because the panel recognizes that resources are not unlimited, it suggests that they be concentrated on the evaluation of a subset of projects to maximize the return on investment and to enhance the likelihood of high-quality results.

Project Selection

Deciding which programs or sites to evaluate is by no means a trivial matter. Selection should be carefully weighed so that projects that are not replicable or that have little chance for success are not subjected to rigorous evaluations.

The panel recommends that any intensive evaluation of an intervention be conducted on a subset of projects selected according to explicit criteria. These criteria should include the replicability of the project, the feasibility of evaluation, and the project's potential effectiveness for prevention of HIV transmission.

If a project is replicable, it means that the particular circumstances of service delivery in that project can be duplicated. In other words, for CBOs and counseling and testing projects, the content and setting of an intervention can be duplicated across sites. Feasibility of evaluation means that, as a practical matter, the research can be done: that is, the research design is adequate to control for rival hypotheses, it is not excessively costly, and the project is acceptable to the community and the sponsor. Potential effectiveness for HIV prevention means that the intervention is at least based on a reasonable theory (or mix of theories) about behavioral change (e.g., social learning theory [Bandura, 1977], the health belief model [Janz and Becker, 1984], etc.), if it has not already been found to be effective in related circumstances.

In addition, since it is important to ensure that the results of evaluations will be broadly applicable,

The panel recommends that evaluation be conducted and replicated across major types of subgroups, programs, and settings. Attention should be paid to geographic areas with low and high AIDS prevalence, as well as to subpopulations at low and high risk for AIDS.

Research Administration

The sponsoring agency interested in evaluating an AIDS intervention should consider the mechanisms through which the research will be carried out as well as the desirability of both independent oversight and agency in-house conduct and monitoring of the research. The appropriate entities and mechanisms for conducting evaluations depend to some extent on the kinds of data being gathered and the evaluation questions being asked.

Oversight and monitoring are important to keep projects fully informed about the other evaluations relevant to their own and to render assistance when needed. Oversight and monitoring are also important because evaluation is often a sensitive issue for project and evaluation staff alike. The panel is aware that evaluation may appear threatening to practitioners and researchers because of the possibility that evaluation research will show that their projects are not as effective as they believe them to be. These needs and vulnerabilities should be taken into account as evaluation research management is developed.

Conducting the Research

To conduct some aspects of a project's evaluation, it may be appropriate to involve project administrators, especially when the data will be used to evaluate delivery systems (e.g., to determine when and which services are being delivered). To evaluate outcomes, the services of an outside evaluator 9 or evaluation team are almost always required because few practitioners have the necessary professional experience or the time and resources necessary to do evaluation. The outside evaluator must have relevant expertise in evaluation research methodology and must also be sensitive to the fears, hopes, and constraints of project administrators.

Several evaluation management schemes are possible. For example, a prospective AIDS prevention project group (the contractor) can bid on a contract for project funding that includes an intensive evaluation component. The actual evaluation can be conducted either by the contractor alone or by the contractor working in concert with an outside independent collaborator. This mechanism has the advantage of involving project practitioners in the work of evaluation as well as building separate but mutually informing communities of experts around the country. Alternatively, a contract can be let with a single evaluator or evaluation team that will collaborate with the subset of sites that is chosen for evaluation. This variation would be managerially less burdensome than awarding separate contracts, but it would require greater dependence on the expertise of a single investigator or investigative team. ( Appendix A discusses contracting options in greater depth.) Both of these approaches accord with the parent committee's recommendation that collaboration between practitioners and evaluation researchers be ensured. Finally, in the more traditional evaluation approach, independent principal investigators or investigative teams may respond to a request for proposal (RFP) issued to evaluate individual projects. Such investigators are frequently university-based or are members of a professional research organization, and they bring to the task a variety of research experiences and perspectives.

Independent Oversight

The panel believes that coordination and oversight of multisite evaluations is critical because of the variability in investigators' expertise and in the results of the projects being evaluated. Oversight can provide quality control for individual investigators and can be used to review and integrate findings across sites for developing policy. The independence of an oversight body is crucial to ensure that project evaluations do not succumb to the pressures for positive findings of effectiveness.

When evaluation is to be conducted by a number of different evaluation teams, the panel recommends establishing an independent scientific committee to oversee project selection and research efforts, corroborate the impartiality and validity of results, conduct cross-site analyses, and prepare reports on the progress of the evaluations.

The composition of such an independent oversight committee will depend on the research design of a given program. For example, the committee ought to include statisticians and other specialists in randomized field tests when that approach is being taken. Specialists in survey research and case studies should be recruited if either of those approaches is to be used. Appendix B offers a model for an independent oversight group that has been successfully implemented in other settings—a project review team, or advisory board.

Agency In-House Team

As the parent committee noted in its report, evaluations of AIDS interventions require skills that may be in short supply for agencies invested in delivering services (Turner, Miller, and Moses, 1989:349). Although this situation can be partly alleviated by recruiting professional outside evaluators and retaining an independent oversight group, the panel believes that an in-house team of professionals within the sponsoring agency is also critical. The in-house experts will interact with the outside evaluators and provide input into the selection of projects, outcome objectives, and appropriate research designs; they will also monitor the progress and costs of evaluation. These functions require not just bureaucratic oversight but appropriate scientific expertise.

This is not intended to preclude the direct involvement of CDC staff in conducting evaluations. However, given the great amount of work to be done, it is likely a considerable portion will have to be contracted out. The quality and usefulness of the evaluations done under contract can be greatly enhanced by ensuring that there are an adequate number of CDC staff trained in evaluation research methods to monitor these contracts.

The panel recommends that CDC recruit and retain behavioral, social, and statistical scientists trained in evaluation methodology to facilitate the implementation of the evaluation research recommended in this report.

Interagency Collaboration

The panel believes that the federal agencies that sponsor the design of basic research, intervention programs, and evaluation strategies would profit from greater interagency collaboration. The evaluation of AIDS intervention programs would benefit from a coherent program of studies that should provide models of efficacious and effective interventions to prevent further HIV transmission, the spread of other STDs, and unwanted pregnancies (especially among adolescents). A marriage could then be made of basic and applied science, from which the best evaluation is born. Exploring the possibility of interagency collaboration and CDC's role in such collaboration is beyond the scope of this panel's task, but it is an important issue that we suggest be addressed in the future.

Costs of Evaluation

In view of the dearth of current evaluation efforts, the panel believes that vigorous evaluation research must be undertaken over the next few years to build up a body of knowledge about what interventions can and cannot do. Dedicating no resources to evaluation will virtually guarantee that high-quality evaluations will be infrequent and the data needed for policy decisions will be sparse or absent. Yet, evaluating every project is not feasible simply because there are not enough resources and, in many cases, evaluating every project is not necessary for good science or good policy.

The panel believes that evaluating only some of a program's sites or projects, selected under the criteria noted in Chapter 4 , is a sensible strategy. Although we recommend that intensive evaluation be conducted on only a subset of carefully chosen projects, we believe that high-quality evaluation will require a significant investment of time, planning, personnel, and financial support. The panel's aim is to be realistic—not discouraging—when it notes that the costs of program evaluation should not be underestimated. Many of the research strategies proposed in this report require investments that are perhaps greater than has been previously contemplated. This is particularly the case for outcome evaluations, which are ordinarily more difficult and expensive to conduct than formative or process evaluations. And those costs will be additive with each type of evaluation that is conducted.

Panel members have found that the cost of an outcome evaluation sometimes equals or even exceeds the cost of actual program delivery. For example, it was reported to the panel that randomized studies used to evaluate recent manpower training projects cost as much as the projects themselves (see Cottingham and Rodriguez, 1987). In another case, the principal investigator of an ongoing AIDS prevention project told the panel that the cost of randomized experimentation was approximately three times higher than the cost of delivering the intervention (albeit the study was quite small, involving only 104 participants) (Kelly et al., 1989). Fortunately, only a fraction of a program's projects or sites need to be intensively evaluated to produce high-quality information, and not all will require randomized studies.

Because of the variability in kinds of evaluation that will be done as well as in the costs involved, there is no set standard or rule for judging what fraction of a total program budget should be invested in evaluation. Based upon very limited data 10 and assuming that only a small sample of projects would be evaluated, the panel suspects that program managers might reasonably anticipate spending 8 to 12 percent of their intervention budgets to conduct high-quality evaluations (i.e., formative, process, and outcome evaluations). 11 Larger investments seem politically infeasible and unwise in view of the need to put resources into program delivery. Smaller investments in evaluation may risk studying an inadequate sample of program types, and it may also invite compromises in research quality.

The nature of the HIV/AIDS epidemic mandates an unwavering commitment to prevention programs, and the prevention activities require a similar commitment to the evaluation of those programs. The magnitude of what can be learned from doing good evaluations will more than balance the magnitude of the costs required to perform them. Moreover, it should be realized that the costs of shoddy research can be substantial, both in their direct expense and in the lost opportunities to identify effective strategies for AIDS prevention. Once the investment has been made, however, and a reservoir of findings and practical experience has accumulated, subsequent evaluations should be easier and less costly to conduct.

Bandura, A. (1977) Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change . Psychological Review 34:191-215. [ PubMed : 847061 ]
Campbell, D. T., and Stanley, J. C. (1966) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis . Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (1988) Sourcebook presented at the National Conference on the Prevention of HIV Infection and AIDS Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the United States (August).
Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences . 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Cook, T., and Campbell, D. T. (1979) Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis for Field Settings . Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Federal Judicial Center (1981) Experimentation in the Law . Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center.
Janz, N. K., and Becker, M. H. (1984) The health belief model: A decade later . Health Education Quarterly 11 (1):1-47. [ PubMed : 6392204 ]
Kelly, J. A., St. Lawrence, J. S., Hood, H. V., and Brasfield, T. L. (1989) Behavioral intervention to reduce AIDS risk activities . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 57:60-67. [ PubMed : 2925974 ]
Meier, P. (1957) Safety testing of poliomyelitis vaccine . Science 125(3257): 1067-1071. [ PubMed : 13432758 ]
Roethlisberger, F. J. and Dickson, W. J. (1939) Management and the Worker . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Rossi, P. H., and Freeman, H. E. (1982) Evaluation: A Systematic Approach . 2nd ed. Beverly Hills, Cal.: Sage Publications.
Turner, C. F., editor; , Miller, H. G., editor; , and Moses, L. E., editor. , eds. (1989) AIDS, Sexual Behavior, and Intravenous Drug Use . Report of the NRC Committee on AIDS Research and the Behavioral, Social, and Statistical Sciences. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. [ PubMed : 25032322 ]
Weinstein, M. C., Graham, J. D., Siegel, J. E., and Fineberg, H. V. (1989) Cost-effectiveness analysis of AIDS prevention programs: Concepts, complications, and illustrations . In C.F. Turner, editor; , H. G. Miller, editor; , and L. E. Moses, editor. , eds., AIDS, Sexual Behavior, and Intravenous Drug Use . Report of the NRC Committee on AIDS Research and the Behavioral, Social, and Statistical Sciences. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. [ PubMed : 25032322 ]
Weiss, C. H. (1972) Evaluation Research . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

On occasion, nonparticipants observe behavior during or after an intervention. Chapter 3 introduces this option in the context of formative evaluation.

The use of professional customers can raise serious concerns in the eyes of project administrators at counseling and testing sites. The panel believes that site administrators should receive advance notification that professional customers may visit their sites for testing and counseling services and provide their consent before this method of data collection is used.

Parts of this section are adopted from Turner, Miller, and Moses, (1989:324-326).

This weakness has been noted by CDC in a sourcebook provided to its HIV intervention project grantees (CDC, 1988:F-14).

The significance tests applied to experimental outcomes calculate the probability that any observed differences between the sample estimates might result from random variations between the groups.

Research participants' knowledge that they were being observed had a positive effect on their responses in a series of famous studies made at General Electric's Hawthorne Works in Chicago (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1939); the phenomenon is referred to as the Hawthorne effect.

participants who self-select into a program are likely to be different from non-random comparison groups in terms of interests, motivations, values, abilities, and other attributes that can bias the outcomes.

A double-blind test is one in which neither the person receiving the treatment nor the person administering it knows which treatment (or when no treatment) is being given.

As discussed under ''Agency In-House Team,'' the outside evaluator might be one of CDC's personnel. However, given the large amount of research to be done, it is likely that non-CDC evaluators will also need to be used.

See, for example, chapter 3 which presents cost estimates for evaluations of media campaigns. Similar estimates are not readily available for other program types.

For example, the U. K. Health Education Authority (that country's primary agency for AIDS education and prevention programs) allocates 10 percent of its AIDS budget for research and evaluation of its AIDS programs (D. McVey, Health Education Authority, personal communication, June 1990). This allocation covers both process and outcome evaluation.

Cite this Page National Research Council (US) Panel on the Evaluation of AIDS Interventions; Coyle SL, Boruch RF, Turner CF, editors. Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs: Expanded Edition. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1991. 1, Design and Implementation of Evaluation Research.
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Free Project Evaluation Templates

By Kate Eby | March 11, 2022

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We’ve compiled a collection of the most effective, free project evaluation templates for project managers, product managers, project sponsors, team members, and other stakeholders.

Included on this page, you’ll find a simple project evaluation template , a project evaluation checklist template , a project evaluation report template , a project evaluation presentation template , and an IT project evaluation template , as well as a list of project evaluation template components .

Project Evaluation Template

Download Project Evaluation Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

Use this simple project evaluation template to ensure that you’ve completed all project requirements and addressed all outstanding issues. The template includes sections to detail the project overview, project highlights, project challenges, post-project tasks, lessons learned, human factors, and additional comments. Project managers and project sponsors can also use the Project Close Acceptance section to obtain approval signatures.

Project Performance Evaluation Template

Download Project Performance Evaluation Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this project performance evaluation template to facilitate a productive project post-mortem with your team. The template includes space for you to set a post-project meeting date and time, designate a facilitator, and make a list of attendees.

This tool also includes sections for you to document the criteria for meeting objectives, team discussions (e.g., “Did we get our desired results?” or “What went well?”), and any action items concerning future projects. Use the Wrap Up section to recap the meeting and thank the team members for their participation.

To perform more effectively when evaluating your projects, read this guide on the five phases of project management .

Project Evaluation Report Template

Download Project Evaluation Report Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

Designed specifically for recording and communicating project results, this project evaluation report template enables you to share the details of your project retrospective in a highly structured format. The template includes sections for you to list the details of your post-project overview, project highlights, project challenges, future considerations, and lessons learned. The template also includes space for team members to note how they can improve their team efforts on future projects.

Pilot Project Evaluation Template

Download Pilot Project Evaluation Template Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Use this comprehensive pilot project evaluation template to ensure that your pilot project meets requirements and anticipates risks. This template prompts you to enter the project name, participants, anticipated failures, and any potential risks. Then, formulate steps to respond to the risks you identify and assign action items to ensure the success of your release.

Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Template

Download Project Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Template Microsoft Excel | Adobe PDF | Google Sheets

Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to quantify and assess your project’s specific objectives and keep your venture on track. In the Key Metric column, enter the name of each KPI (e.g., output indicator). Then, for each KPI, list the person responsible and monthly vs. actual goals, and the template will display the difference between the two, as well as a comparison of this and the previous period’s performances.

To learn more, visit our guide to project planning solutions and tools .

Project Evaluation Incident Matrix Template

Download Project Evaluation Incident Matrix Template Microsoft Excel | Google Sheets

Use this incident priority matrix template to track all project-related incidents to guarantee successful project execution. The template includes three columns to help you categorize your project’s incidents: a color-coded Impact column to describe the severity level of each incident ; an Urgency column for you to identify the urgency level of each incident; and a Priority column to prioritize each project incident.

The template also enables you to specify the department or location of the project incident and describe any warnings regarding high-severity issues, to ensure that you address and remedy them quickly.

Project Team Evaluation Template

Download Project Team Evaluation Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this project team evaluation template to survey your team members on how well they thought you defined and communicated the project plan and goals, whether they felt the expectations were realistic, and how well they worked together and with the client. The template prompts team members to rate their level of agreement with each statement, and to offer additional comments in the final section.

IT Project Evaluation Template

Download IT Project Evaluation Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

Whether you’re safeguarding data, troubleshooting hardware or software problems, or building, maintaining, and servicing networks, you need a failsafe system for evaluating your IT efforts. This IT project evaluation template prompts IT groups to assess the quality of their project delivery by enumerating the criteria for success, listing project highlights and challenges, and recording post-project lessons learned.

Check out this comprehensive article on vendor assessment and evaluation for more helpful information on evaluating project vendors

Project Evaluation Questions Template

Download Project Evaluation Questions Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this project evaluation questions template to evaluate your completed projects. This survey allows all project team members to appraise the project’s achievements and challenges, and includes a rating system for assessing each project component. It also includes ample space for team members to convey what went well on the project, what was most frustrating and satisfying, and which particular issues they would like to discuss further.

Sample Project Evaluation Template

Download Sample Project Evaluation Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

This sample project evaluation template includes example text to guide you and your team through the post-project appraisal process. First, the template prompts you to describe the project overview (e.g., “What were the original goals and objectives of the project?” and “What were the original criteria for project success?”). It then asks you to list project highlights and challenges (e.g., “What elements of the project went well/wrong?” and “What specific processes need improvement?”), and to create a list of post-project tasks to ensure that you and your team show improvement on future projects.

Project Evaluation Checklist Template

Download Project Evaluation Checklist Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this dynamic project evaluation checklist template to ensure that you optimize the lessons learned on your most recent project. The template walks you through the process of confirming that you have accounted for and scheduled all post-project tasks appropriately. The Completed ? column allows you to keep tabs on completed or to-do items, and also helps you determine your plan of action once you’ve completed your post-project assessment.

Project Evaluation Presentation Template

Download Project Evaluation Presentation Template Microsoft PowerPoint | Google Slides

Project managers, product managers, Scrum masters, project sponsors, and other team members can use this presentation-friendly project evaluation presentation template to share a project’s successes and lessons learned, and to locate room for improvement on successive projects.

The template enables you to upload your logo, compare your project’s performance with its initial goals, and evaluate the quality of individual performances. It also prompts you to assess your project plan and gather details about what went well, areas for improvement, and any big-picture takeaways you can use to refine future projects.

What Is a Project Evaluation Template?

A project evaluation template is a fillable form that provides you with a framework for retroactively and proactively assessing your project’s effectiveness. Use the form to capture your project’s highlights, challenges, lessons learned, and post-project tasks.

It’s crucial to have a method in place for assessing the effectiveness of your projects, so you can ensure that you’ve met the project deliverables, outlined the post-project tasks, and enumerated lessons learned. By following this process, you can deliver future projects successfully. Without having this evaluative structure in place, you risk losing valuable time, siloing teams, and implementing nothing but one-off projects.

By using a project evaluation template, you can increase your productivity, proactivity, and project success rate.

You can modify project evaluation templates to meet your specific project’s needs. Though project evaluation templates may vary, they typically include the following components:

Project Title: Enter the name of the project you are evaluating.
Project Overview: Provide a high-level overview of the project’s original goals and objectives, criteria for success, and a comparison of the planned expectations vs. actual execution.
Project Highlights: List project highlights, including major accomplishments, what went well, what could use improvement, and what would work for future projects.
Project Challenges: Capture the project’s challenges, including areas for improvement, key problem areas, and any technical challenges.
Post-Project Tasks: Write down any post-project tasks that you should perform in order to improve the project or ensure that you’ve accounted for all the objectives.
Lessons Learned: List the lessons learned, including what you discovered during the planning, execution, and delivery phases.

Additionally, some project evaluation templates frequently include the following post-project evaluative components:

Moderator: If you have a post-project discussion about the project, enter the name of the meeting’s moderator.
Date Prepared: Set the date for the project meeting or for the delivery of the project-evaluation report.
Participants: Enter the names of the team members who are attending the post-project evaluation.
Future Considerations: Based on lessons learned from the launch of this particular project, write down things to consider regarding future projects.
Action Plan: Provide an action plan (or a list of action items) that identifies the project deliverables and any outstanding tasks.
Key Performance Indicators: List any KPIs that you used, or plan to use, to evaluate the project’s success (e.g., output KPIs, input KPIs, process KPIs, qualitative KPIs, etc.).
Key Takeaways: Write a summary of the project’s key takeaways and how they relate to the success of future projects.

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53 performance review examples to boost growth

group-of-people-smiling-and-working-performance-review-examples

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The importance of performance reviews

53 performance review examples, 3 tips for delivering a performance review to an underperformer, a performance review is an opportunity to foster growth.

Even the most well-intentioned criticism can be hard to hear.

If you need to give feedback to a peer or employee, you might feel nervous. After all, you can probably empathize — most of us have been in their position. You want the person to know where they excel and how to improve, but you don’t want to come off as harsh or lose your authority. It’s a delicate balance.

When sharing professional feedback, you need to achieve that perfect equilibrium to motivate your team to continue doing their best work. Perfect your delivery by studying these 53 performance review examples.

A performance review -– also known as a performance appraisal — evaluates how well an employee is tracking toward goals and upholding the company vision and values . This formal assessment documents strengths and weaknesses , expectations for improvement , and other relevant employee feedback , like kudos for a standout performance.

Performance reviews are essential because they provide managers (or employees assessing their peers) with a set time and structure for delivering in-depth, example-driven feedback. It’s also an opportunity for the reviewer to set metrics-based expectations so the reviewee knows how to improve for next time.

Plus, performance reviews are an excellent opportunity to open lines of communication between peers or a manager and their direct reports. Both sides can clarify questions or concerns about performance, and the reviewer may use this time to motivate the reviewee. These types of workplace conversations build more trusting, engaged, and caring professional relationships.

Unfortunately, typical performance reviews only inspire 14% of employees . In other words, reviewers need to step up their own performance if they want to make an impression during these meetings.

Effective performance reviews are level-headed and honest. They aren’t excuses to scold an employee for a mistake or poor performance . They make time to offer constructive criticism, praise what the team member is doing well, and provide suggested areas for improvement.

To keep the conversation as productive as possible, study our list of performance evaluation examples that provide focused feedback and maintain an upbeat, inspiring tone that doesn’t undermine the seriousness of the commentary.

Here are 53 employee evaluation examples for various scenarios.

Communication

Good workplace communication helps teams clearly express ideas and work through problems effectively. Respectful communication also fosters healthy social relationships between peers, which are essential for a positive work culture.

When you assess a colleague on this interpersonal skill , focus on the politeness of their interactions, the coherence of how they present information, and their ability to listen to others actively .

Use performance evaluation comments like the following when a colleague has done an exceptional job of clearly and respectfully communicating:

1. “I’ve noticed how clearly you communicate complex concepts to clients. I really admire this ability.”

2. “You’re excellent at solving conflicts . Thank you for taking on this responsibility.”

3. “Several of your teammates have told me how pleasant it is to work with you. Thank you for being such a respectful communicator.”

4. “I’ve been observing your standout negotiation skills and will continue to look for opportunities for you to use them.”

5. “I’d like to congratulate you on your clear and easy-to-follow presentations. Would you consider giving a workshop for your teammates?”

Improvement suggestions

Poor communication leads to confusion and fraught interactions. Plus, muddled instructions or explanations can cause project errors, and negative delivery can harm team and stakeholder relationships . It’s important for each team member to have this skill.

Here’s how to cite communication that needs improving:

6. “I’ve noticed that you sometimes miss part of an explanation. I have helpful materials on active listening I recommend taking a look at.”

7. “Clients have noted that your explanations are difficult to understand. You have a strong grasp of complex concepts, but let’s work together on ways to break them down for an unfamiliar audience.”

8. “I’d appreciate it if you could communicate when there’s an issue on a project or you have a question. I’ve seen delays and errors due to a lack of updates.”

9. “Some of your emails to clients have had spelling and grammar errors. Could you make an extra effort to check your work so that we keep our company communication as polished as possible?”

10. “Your teammates have cited rude interactions with you. We must keep communication respectful. Is something going on that’s causing you frustration or prompting these interactions?”

Innovation and creativity

Innovative solutions and creativity allow organizations to generate new products and services, build a more resonant brand image, and connect successfully with their target audience. When giving a performance review, provide positive feedback on how the person contributes to the team or company’s growth.

Teammates who offer fresh ideas for projects or ways to improve company processes to boost efficiency deserve a proverbial pat on the back. Here are five performance appraisal examples that show how to give it:

11. “Last quarter, you saved our team 50 hours of administrative work with your solution for streamlining databases. Thank you for this invaluable idea.”

12. “The marketing campaign you created to target younger audiences has been one of our most successful. Everyone on our team has something to learn from you.”

13. “You’ve been integral to launching one of the most innovative apps on the market. You should be proud of yourself. You’re helping a lot of end users.”

14. “I admire the way you creatively approach complex problems . You resolved a tricky supply chain issue that kept our deliveries on track.”

15. “You deeply understand the brand image and voice. All of your marketing copy and designs represent us well.”

group-of-people-working-in-an-office-performance-review-examples

Improvement suggestions

Team members in creativity- and innovation-driven roles may stagnate. Your organization might have a performance review template you can follow to zero on in how to improve in these areas. You can also use the following feedback pieces to push them in the right direction:

16. "You’re one of our most valued graphic designers. However, I’ve noticed that your recent designs have been similar. Let’s talk about ways to innovate.”

17. “Since you’re in a leadership role, I would like it if you took more initiative to offer creative solutions to problems . I have some reading to guide you.”

18. “I’ve noticed that your copy lacks that fresh voice we admire. Have you also tracked this change, and what solutions do you have to liven up the writing?”

19. “You’ve offered some of the most innovative development ideas our company’s seen. But you’ve been quiet in brainstorming sessions lately. Let’s talk about what may be going on.”

20. “Your latest product innovation had flaws resulting from rushed work and a lack of attention to detail. Does that resonate?”

Everyone can be a leader — regardless of their rank at an organization. Team members set examples for their peers, and managers guide reports toward success. Whether you’re giving a performance review for a veteran or an entry-level employee, address their leadership skills where you can.

When an employee exceeds expectations by mentoring others, taking charge of problems, and upholding organizational values , recognize their outstanding work with phrases like the following:

21. “Your positive attitude , willingness to take on more responsibility, and ability to explain concepts to your peers makes you an example to all.”

22. “I appreciate your advances in developing better leadership skills, like clear communication and excellent negotiation tactics. Kudos.”

23. “I know you started here recently, but many people already look up to you. You take initiative, aren’t afraid to share ideas, and treat your peers respectfully.”

24. “Since you’ve become a project manager, the development team consistently delivers quality outputs on time. You’re doing a great job guiding the group.”

25. “When there was a conflict with a client last month, you stepped in to manage it. You have the makings of a great leader.”

If an employee like a project manager or team lead isn’t mentoring others as well as they could, a performance review is the perfect moment to tackle the issue. And if you have a stellar employee who isn’t showing the leadership and initiative required to earn them a promotion, they might need some encouragement to strengthen these skills. Use the following examples as a guide for wording your feedback:

26. “You’ve consistently been an excellent leader, but teammates have reported a lack of mentorship on recent projects, leading to confusion and poor results. What can we do to improve the clarity of your communication and guidance?”

27. “I’ve noticed that you’re stepping back from public speaking opportunities. You’re a strong leader already, but giving talks is an inevitable part of your role. Here’s information on a speaking course I took that could help.”

28. “Some of your teammates have said you’re difficult to approach with a problem. Let’s work to improve your communication skills to make others comfortable asking you for help.”

29. “Your communication and mentorship skills are unmatched, but you still have to improve your time management skills. Several projects have run late, impacting client deliveries.”

30. “You form excellent social relationships with your team, but you may be getting too close. I’m concerned you could lose your authority if you continue to act more like a peer than a mentor.”

Collaboration and teamwork

Teams must work well together — it’s synergy that allows them to accomplish more than they’d be able to alone. Collaboration drives better organizational results and fosters a communicative, innovative work environment. Here’s how to tackle this topic in a performance appraisal.

Certain team members go above and beyond to help peers, manage conflicts, and share their knowledge. Reward them with statements like the following:

31. “You’re an excellent resource for new team members. Thank you for being willing to share what you know.”

32. “Your ability to adapt when obstacles arise and encourage your teammates to do the same has saved us from late deliveries several times. Congratulations, and thank you.”

33. “You didn’t have to navigate that conflict between your peers last week, but you stepped up. I think everyone in your group learned something from you that day.”

34. “I know you’d like to be doing more on projects, but I appreciate that you’re splitting the work with newer teammates so they can learn. Exciting opportunities are coming your way soon.”

35. “Your team traditionally had trouble working together. Thank you for identifying their strengths and guiding them as a leader to use them in harmony.”

Employees resisting participation in a team or creating conflicts must change behaviors to help their peers thrive. Here are a few ways to suggest improvements:

36. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been canceling team meetings and avoiding social events. Let’s talk about what’s going on.”

37. “It’s great to challenge your peers' ideas, but I’ve repeatedly observed you push contrary thoughts when the rest of the team has reached a consensus. This can hold up projects, so I’d like to ask you to be more flexible.”

38. “I know you’ve been very busy, but could you take more time to share your skills with others? There are new team members who could learn from you.”

39. “You’re sometimes quick to nix others’ ideas. Try listening to their suggestions with a more open mind to be a better team player.”

40. “You’re an involved leader, and that’s an excellent trait. But sometimes, you get too close to a project, and your guidance borders on micromanaging . I’d encourage you to try taking a step back when the team is working well together.”

Work ethic and organization

Punctuality, time management , and planning keep work flowing. In performance reviews, ensure all team members understand how their work ethics contribute to overall success.

Show your appreciation to those employees who keep administrative tasks running smoothly. Here are some examples:

41. “Thank you for changing our customer relationship management system. Now everyone can access data more easily, and it’s improved our workflow.”

42. “Your persistence in implementing the Agile project management framework has paid off. We’re delivering better, more timely products to clients.”

43. “You’re never late and sometimes even early. I appreciate your dedication to punctuality. It helps meetings run on time, and the day gets off to a strong start.”

44. “You always answer clients’ emails promptly. Thank you for your dedication to excellent customer service.”

45. “As a project manager, you do a great job resolving teammate’s blockers efficiently. This allows them to perform tasks confidently and keeps projects on track.”

Improvement suggestion

Employees who consistently arrive late or have trouble organizing tasks and following company processes negatively impact others’ ability to work well — not to mention their own. Here are constructive employee review examples for those cases:

46. “You’re often tardy to meetings, which causes your teammates and clients to wait. This can be frustrating for stakeholders. I’d like to share some tips for time management.”

47. “I’ve noticed you consistently turn in work late. I’m concerned you may have too much on your plate. Let’s assess your workload.”

48. “Client emails are falling through the cracks, making us look like we don’t care. Here’s a system I use to ensure I respond to every email quickly.”

49. “I understand the new customer relationship management system is tricky, but we need everyone to get on board. Would it be helpful if I set up an additional training session to walk you through the software?”

50. “You didn’t meet your goals this quarter, so I’m modifying them for the upcoming one. Please let me know if you need tools, skills, or support to make achieving these goals possible.”

Performance review summary examples

Wrap up your review by revisiting what the employee has done well and highlighting the improvements they should make. Here are three examples you can model your performance review summary on:

51. “You’ve improved your communication and public speaking skills this quarter, making you a stronger leader. But you can still work on your task and time management skills by implementing better organizational practices.”

52. “Your first few months at the company have been a success. You’ve learned to use our tools and processes, and your teammates enjoy working with you. Next quarter, I’d like you to take more initiative in brainstorming sessions.”

53. “You’re a long-time valued employee, and you have a unique talent as a graphic designer. Your social media campaign last quarter was top-notch, but others have been stagnant. I know you can tap into your talents and do more innovative work.”

laptop-for-working-performance-review-examples

You’re a compassionate leader and never want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But in a performance review , you may have to deliver tricky constructive criticism . You’re giving this feedback with the best intentions, but doing so might make the other person defensive. Keep the conversation productive and focus on framing improvement as a positive with these three tips:

Start and end on a high note: Open the conversation with what the employee has done well and circle back to this point after giving criticism. This will remind the employee of their value.
Use metrics: Don’t run a performance review on “gut feelings.” Quantifiable metrics and clear feedback allow you to identify areas of improvement. You must demonstrate specific examples and measurable figures to back up your claims. Otherwise, your criticism can seem unfounded.
Offer suggestions: An employee may not know how to interpret feedback and translate it into action items. And they might have some concluding performance review questions about how to improve. Offer help and a professional development plan so the person feels inspired, capable, and supported in making the changes you suggest.

Many fear receiving and giving sub-optimal feedback. However, in performance reviews, colleagues inevitably highlight negative aspects of a person’s work.

But if you establish a healthy balance between recognizing an employee’s strengths and offering constructive feedback for improvement (like in our performance review examples), these sessions turn into growth opportunities. Your colleagues take on new challenges, acquire better skills, and become more understanding teammates thanks to criticism.

And guess what? The next performance review will be less nerve-wracking for everyone involved.

Lead with confidence and authenticity

Develop your leadership and strategic management skills with the help of an expert Coach.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How to coach your team to success: 5 key tips for managers

What is financial coaching, and why do you need it, language analysis reveals how coaching has evolved over the last 3 years, how coaching drove $10m in additional sales, coaching during crisis: new betterup research shows coaching helps employees navigate change and uncertainty, 7 types of employee coaching (and why you can’t afford to miss out), innovations in coaching: growth through connection for an evolving world of work, how professional coaching can be a force multiplier for the military, what to get coaching on here’s what managers are saying, similar articles, 31 examples of problem solving performance review phrases, 17 positive feedback examples to develop a winning team, leverage love languages at work to improve your office culture, 10 performance review tips to drastically move the needle, how to give positive comments to your boss, 5 ways to recognize employees, how to praise someone professionally on their work (with examples), 25 performance review questions (and how to use them), 16 constructive feedback examples — and tips for how to use them, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Open access
Published: 27 May 2024

Research on safety condition assessment methodology for single tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea based on improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Huifeng Su 1 , 2 ,
Cheng Guo 1 ,
Ziyi Wang 3 ,
Tao Han 4 ,
David Bonfils Kamanda 1 ,
Fengzhao Su 1 &
Liuhong Shang 1

Scientific Reports volume 14 , Article number: 12079 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

10 Accesses

Metrics details

Engineering
Mathematics and computing

In order to propose a reliable method for assessing the safety condition for single-tower steel box girder Suspension bridges over the sea, a condition monitoring system is established by installing sensors on the bridge structure. The system is capable of gathering monitoring data that influence the safety status of the bridge. These include cable tension, load on the main tower and pylon, bearing displacement, wind direction, wind speed, and ambient temperature and humidity. Furthermore, an improved Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) algorithm is developed by integrating a hybrid triangular fuzzy number logic structure. This improvement, coupled with comprehensive fuzzy evaluation methods, improves the consistency, weight determination, and security evaluation capabilities of the AHP algorithm. Finally, taking the No.2 Channel Bridge as an example and based on the data collected by the health monitoring system, the application of the safety assessment method proposed in this paper provides favorable results in evaluating the overall safety status of the bridge in practical engineering applications. This provides a basis for management decisions by bridge maintenance departments. This project confirms that the research results can provide a reliable method for assessing the security status of relevant areas.

Tunnel collapse risk assessment based on improved quantitative theory III and EW-AHP coupling weight

The risk assessment of rockburst intensity in the highway tunnel based on the variable fuzzy sets theory

Failure probability analysis of high fill levee considering multiple uncertainties and correlated failure modes

Introduction.

With the in-depth implementation of the strategy to strengthen national transport, the development of transport infrastructure has entered a new phase of rapid development. It is expected that China could lead the world in the number of bridges by the 2030s 1 . As the service life of bridges increases, damage to various structures and components can have an impact on the safe operation of bridges. In some cases, the failure of a particular component can result in a complete loss of bridge safety. In order to be able to assess the safety status of bridges intuitively and quickly, it is usually necessary to carry out safety assessments. There are two main methods for assessing bridge safety: using bridge monitoring data and using manual inspections along with standardized criteria. Currently, the assessment and early warning of the safety status of bridge structures is largely carried out by installing sensors and monitoring devices on bridge structures. This enables long-term real-time monitoring of the operating status and relevant physical parameters of the bridge 2 , 3 . For single-tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea, traditional manual inspection methods suffer from subjectivity, low efficiency and high labor costs due to their high pylons and structural complexity, so they cannot meet maintenance requirements. Therefore, in order to capture the safety operation status of bridge structures in real time, it is particularly important to conduct safety status assessments for single-tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea using health monitoring systems.

Bao et al. 4 In order to carry out an effective risk assessment in the construction of long-span bridges and determine the optimal construction scheme using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the AHP was integrated with the Gray Correlation method. They created a multi-level comprehensive assessment model and used the AHP to provide weights for the factors that influence the assessment indicators. Yang et al. 5 based on a comprehensive analysis of the safety factors associated with existing bridges crossing municipal roads, proposed a comprehensive fuzzy evaluation method of Analytic Hierarchy Process to evaluate the impact of road construction on the safety of existing bridges. Yang et al. 6 proposed a novel comprehensive condition assessment method that considers the uncertainty of the measured data intervals and the influence of conflicting measured data. By comparing the condition assessment results with the actual state of components or the entire bridge, they verified the advantages of the proposed method over existing AHP assessment methods and traditional combination methods. Liu et al. 7 presented a reliability assessment method for a precast reinforced concrete hollow slab bridge system considering damage to joint nodes based on an improved Analytic Hierarchy Process. Tan et al. 8 addressed the optimization selection problem of retrofit solutions for old bridges and introduced a decision method based on fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process weights and gray relational analysis. Lu et al. 9 proposed a method for risk assessment of Suspension bridges and cable systems based on cloud model, which effectively combines the randomness and uncertainty of risk information. Wang et al. 10 , 11 outlined the research trends in main cable safety assessment and emphasized the importance of improving the safety of main cables to ensure the structural safety of long-span, multi-tower suspension bridges. Andrić et al. 12 combined the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) with fuzzy knowledge representation and fuzzy logic techniques, proposing a novel framework for disaster risk assessment. This method proves its practicality and efficiency in analyzing and evaluating multi-hazard risks for bridges. Ji et al. 13 introduced a large-scale risk assessment method for complex bridge structures based on Delphi-enhanced Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) factor analysis. The approach was validated through a comparative study with practical engineering cases and the Analytic Hierarchy Process, confirming its feasibility and practicality. It serves as a reference for later risk prevention in bridge. Liang 14 presented a multi-level evaluation system suitable for assessing the health status of prestressed continuous concrete bridges. This innovative rating system effectively supports bridge management and maintenance. Deng et al. 15 developed a comprehensive assessment method for the safety and reliability of existing railway bridges. The method serves as a theoretical basis for the maintenance and strengthening of the Songhua River Bridge on the Binbei Line. Ma et al. 16 proposed a systematic safety assessment for overwater bridge transportation, a technology that significantly increases the safety of bridges during sea transportation. Maljaars et al. 17 developed an evaluation method to determine the actual safety level of highway bridges and viaducts. This method focuses on assessing the impact of traffic behavior and consists of several levels. Zhu et al. 18 conducted an in-depth study on the safety assessment methods for Bridge Health Monitoring Systems (BHMS) using comprehensive fuzzy assessment techniques. They developed a novel Bridge Health Monitoring System based on safety assessment vectors. Li et al. 19 introduced a new security assessment method that combines Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and Bayesian theory. This method enables reliable assessment and back-diagnosis of the overall safety performance of reinforced concrete bridges in cold regions. Fu et al. 20 used multi-source data from the construction and dismantling of a large-span reinforced concrete arch bridge in China. They applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process AHP to analyze the data from multiple sources and set a safety alarm threshold for the bridge during construction. Miyamoto et al. 21 proposed an early warning method for bridge safety using wireless sensor network technology. The method showed satisfactory results in various performance indicators such as flood delay, energy efficiency and throughput. Li et al. 22 established a risk assessment index system for safety in the operational phase of highway bridges. They then used cloud entropy weighting to objectively weigh various risk indicators and applied cloud model theory to risk assessment, emphasizing the objectivity of the assigned values. Feng et al. 23 presented an innovative approach that combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the Finite Element Method (FEM). This approach highlighted the potential risk of influence of uncertain factors on the environment. Li et al. 24 proposed a probabilistic performance evaluation framework for a Suspension bridge, which considers factors such as wind speed, wind direction, bridge orientation, wind-wave correlation and parameter uncertainty. This framework provides a comprehensive and practical method for evaluating the performance and optimizing the design of SCBs under wind and wave loads. Xu et al. 25 presented a cloud-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (C-AHP) scoring system for determining inspection intervals. The proposed C-AHP rating system not only takes into account the vagueness of the AHP rating system, but also addresses its randomness and provides more stringent time intervals for routine inspections of long-span suspension bridges compared to the F-AHP rating system. Prasetyo et al. 26 used AHP and Promethee II methods to analyze and prioritize the ideal weight criteria for bridge handling. This approach makes the priority weighting process more dynamic and manageable.

In summary, there exists a paucity of research both domestically and internationally concerning the safety assessment of single tower suspension bridges featuring a steel box girder structure spanning over open sea expanses. In the field of safety assessment analysis for bridge structures, the traditional AHP is commonly used. In the traditional AHP framework, assessment matrices are created based on pairwise comparisons of selected criteria. However, the requirement for precise numerical values within these matrices requires respondents to have a thorough understanding of the relative importance of each choice. In practice, due to the complexity of objective phenomena and the human mind's use of fuzzy concepts, describing relative importance with precise numbers (such as 3, 1/9, etc.) becomes challenging. This leads to low credibility of weight calculation, cumbersome calculations, and weakened ability to comprehensively evaluate. Further refinements and improvements are required to determine the weights and improve the scoring matrix in a more meaningful way. Given this background, the present study improves the judgment matrix through a hybrid triangular fuzzy number logic structure with the aim of accounting for the uncertainty inherent in human analysis and cognition. This extension includes specifying the upper and lower limits of the possibility intervals as well as the most likely central values. By using the membership function of triangular fuzzy numbers, the study derives the possibilities of various parameters within the entire interval range. This method improves the determination of weights in the AHP, thereby improving its consistency and weight solution capabilities. By combining the improved AHP method with comprehensive fuzzy evaluation, the study proposes an improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation approach to evaluate the safety status of a single-tower steel box girder suspension bridge over the sea. This approach increases the accuracy and rationality of the assessment results and aims to address the shortcomings in the safety assessment research of such bridge structures and provide valuable insights for the safety assessment of bridges.

Method for assessing the safety status of a single tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea

Basic principles of improved analytic hierarchy process.

The Analytic Hierarchy Process, introduced by American operations research professor Saaty in the 1970s 27 , is an effective method that converts semi-qualitative and semi-quantitative problems into quantitative calculations. AHP is known for its simplicity, rigorous mathematical foundation, and widespread application in analysis and decision making of complex systems. It serves as a practical, multi-criteria decision-making method and offers advantages such as systematicity, conciseness, flexibility and usefulness.

In traditional AHP, judgment matrices are determined through pairwise comparisons of selected criteria, which requires respondents to have a clear understanding of the relative importance of each selection. However, in practice, due to the large number of evaluation criteria in the AHP evaluation process, the complexity of objective phenomena and the application of fuzzy concepts in human thinking, experts find it difficult to give an accurate value when evaluating pairwise comparison indicators. Restricting the evaluation of importance levels to fixed and finite numbers ignores the fuzziness of experts' thought processes during evaluation, which leads to inconsistency problems in the evaluation matrices and to some extent limits the accuracy of the evaluations. To address this problem, this study integrates the triangular fuzzy number method, improves the weight determination method in the analytical hierarchy process, and improves its consistency and weight solution capabilities. Triangular fuzzy numbers represent a range concept that specifies the upper and lower limits of a probability interval as well as the maximum probability value. By using the membership function of triangular fuzzy numbers, the probabilities of various parameters within the entire interval range can be determined.

When constructing the judgment matrix $A = \left( {a_{ij} } \right)_{n \times n}$ , we depart from the conventional method of using a single precise numerical value to represent the importance of two indicators, and instead employ the method of triangular fuzzy numbers to indicate the interrelationships between pairs of indicators. First, the most probable value “m” is determined, which represents the basic assessment of the relationship between the two indicators, followed by the establishment of the upper and lower limits, denoted “a” and “b”. The lower bound represents the minimum rating that experts consider possible, while the upper bound represents the maximum possible rating. Finally, an importance interval is provided, denoted as $a_{ij} = \left[ {a_{ij} ,m_{ij} ,b_{ij} } \right]$ , where “ $a$ ” represents the minimum importance value in the comparison of the two indicators, “ $m$ ” denotes the most likely value in the comparison. and “ $b$ ” denotes the maximum importance value in the comparison.

Using formula ( 1 ), transform the interval form of importance into specific precise numerical values-and obtain a consistent judgment matrix without the need for consistency checks.

Regarding formula ( 1 ), Professor Hua Luogeng has previously provided explanations for similar formulas: The probability of “ $a_{ij}$ ” taking the minimum value, “ $a$ ” and “ $b$ ” taking the maximum value is relatively small, and the probability distribution closely follows the normal distribution distribution pattern. Therefore, assuming that “ $a_{ij}$ ” takes the most likely value “ $m$ ” is twice as likely as assuming that “ $a$ ” takes the minimum value and “ $b$ ” takes the maximum value. The weighted average algorithm produces the following results:

For example, if an expert's assessment of the relative weights of Indicator 1 and Indicator 2 is (2/3, 1, 3/2), then that expert's assessment of the weight of Indicator 1 relative to Indicator 2 is:

Improving the basic steps of the analytic hierarchy process

Clearly define the basic problems and relevant influencing factors

At the initial stage, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the problems being studied and the problems to be solved. The aim is to clearly identify the overarching problem, i.e. the end goal. After defining the basic problem, it is then a matter of identifying the relevant influencing factors that can play a role in solving the problem. These include both primary and secondary factors.

Establishing a hierarchical structure

Establishing a hierarchical structure is a crucial step in the AHP, especially when assessing the comprehensive safety status of bridges. The initial phase involves systematically categorizing the research problem and organizing it into hierarchical layers and thus constructing an evaluative indicator system or model. Within this system or model, the research problem is delineated into different indicator elements at different levels. These indicator elements are further classified based on their unique properties. In particular, each set of indicators at a lower level should be subordinate to the indicators at the level above. To improve the overall rationality of the hierarchical system or model, the division of hierarchical levels should conform to principles such as security, simplicity, independence and objectivity. The hierarchical structure can basically be divided into three levels:

Top level (target level): This level is also called the target level and contains only one indicator element. In the context of this document, the top level is the comprehensive safety assessment of the 2nd canal bridge.

Intermediate level (criterion level): This level is also called the criterion level and can contain several indicator elements. Each indicator at this level is constrained by and subordinate to the top level indicator. The indicators at this level should share common attributes. For example, in the case of a suspension bridge, the central indicators may include components such as main beams, main tower, main cables, hanging rods, etc.

Bottom level (alternative level): This level is also called alternative level and can also contain several indicator elements. These indicators represent various solution measures for achieving the goal. Each indicator at this level should have an influencing factor on the security status of the higher-level indicators. For example, within the “main beam” indicator at the middle level, the indicators at the lowest level could include the stress and displacement of the main beam. Stress and displacement can be further divided based on different locations and directions.

An ideal typical analytic hierarchy model is shown in Fig. 1 .

Ideal typical AHP model.

Construction of a triangular judgment matrix in fuzzy number form

Within the same hierarchy, different indicator elements are categorized into multiple levels based on their respective excellence or importance. Quantitative values are assigned to represent these levels. If the precision requirements are low, a 5-step quantitative method can be used, using the integers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 to express the importance of one indicator element over another. This is called the 5-stage quantitative method, where a higher number indicates greater importance of the former over the latter. To express the former as less important than the latter, the reciprocal of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 can be used. If higher precision in level division is required, interpolation can be applied within the 5 level method by introducing 2, 4, 6 and 8, creating a 9 level quantitative method. The meaning of the scale from 1 to 9 is shown in Table 1 .

Distribute evaluation matrix evaluation sheets to relevant experts and guide them to evaluate the scale table using the hierarchical analysis method described above. They are expected to perform pairwise comparisons of the indicators and then assign importance values. Summarize the assessments of each expert and create the evaluation matrix in the form of triangular fuzzy numbers, as shown in ( 2 ).

The approximation of the consistency of the matrix “A” leads to the generation of the consistency assessment matrix $M = \left( {m_{ij} } \right)_{n \times n}$ , whereby the parameter $m_{ij}$ is calculated as follows:

Based on the consistency judgment matrix, calculate the weights of each indicator

Start by calculating the nth root of the product of the elements in each row of the consistency judgment matrix.

where $M_{i} \prod\nolimits_{j = 1}^{n} {m_{ij} }, \;\; \left( {i = 1,2, \ldots n} \right)$ .

Orthogonalize the above calculation results to obtain coefficients for each evaluation indicator.

$W_{i} = \left( {W_{1} ,W_{2} , \ldots ,W_{n} } \right)^{T}$ therefore denotes the weight coefficients determined for the respective evaluation indicators.

Basic principle of the comprehensive fuzzy evaluation method

In 1965, Professor L.A. Zadeh from the United States published an article on fuzzy logic in an international journal in which he established the concept of fuzzy set theory and marked the birth of fuzzy mathematics 28 . Fuzzy or uncertain entities can be described using fuzzy mathematics. The term “fuzzy” refers to the variability between objective units that arises from the uncertainty in classifying units due to subjective differences. It is a form of description for concepts that are clearly defined but have unclear boundaries. In practical life, many concepts are vague, such as: youth, early morning, cold, etc. Due to subjective and objective limitations, each individual has different mental limits for these phenomena, which reflect people's subjective factors. When the fundamental concepts are unclear, accurate identification of an object is unrealistic. Instead, one can only assess the extent to which the object is likely to correspond to the concept.

Fuzzy sets and membership functions

In classical set theory, for a given element “ ${\text{x}}$ ”, its membership in the classical set “ ${\text{A}}$ ” is clear. The relationship between the two is binary, either belonging or not belonging, a clear distinction represented by either ${\text{x}} \in A$ or ${\text{x}} \notin A$ . This relationship can be described using a characteristic function. However, for certain indefinite quantities or units, their values cannot be determined precisely. Therefore, it becomes necessary to apply fuzzy set theory to handle such cases.

In fuzzy set theory, the transformation of the characteristic function into a membership function is used to solve problems. Membership degrees are used to reflect the degree of membership of a fuzzy set to a fuzzy set. Assuming a discourse universe “ ${\text{U}}$ ” and a set “ ${\text{A}}$ ”, for each element ${\text{x}} \in A$ , a function $\mu_{A} \left( {\text{x}} \right) \in \left[ {01} \right]$ can be used to represent the degree to which element “ ${\text{x}}$ ” belongs to the set “ ${\text{A}}$ ”, as follows:

In the context of fuzzy set theory, the range “ ${\text{U}}$ ” is called the set of elements, while the set “ ${\text{A}}$ ” is called a fuzzy set. The function $\mu_{A} \left( {\text{x}} \right)$ , called the membership function, serves as the membership function for “A”. In this scenario, a fuzzy set can be fully represented by a corresponding fuzzy function. The membership function $\mu_{A} \left( {\text{x}} \right)$ assigns values ranging from 0 to 1, where the value is to 1, the higher the degree of membership of the element “ ${\text{x}}$ ” to a fuzzy set in the fuzzy set” ${\text{A}}$ ”; the closer it is to 0, the lower the degree of membership of the element “ ${\text{x}}$ ” to a fuzzy quantity in the fuzzy set ” ${\text{A}}$ ”.

Methods for determining membership functions

Fuzzy set and membership function are inextricably linked. The fuzzy set is represented by the membership function. The membership function is also the implementation of fuzzy set operations. Using the correct membership function is the basis for applying fuzzy set theory to solve practical problems. This article uses fuzzy statistics to determine the membership function.

Fuzzy statistics are used to represent the membership function in a similar way to probability statistics to determine the degree of membership. The basic steps are as follows: First, a fuzzy set “A” and a discourse area “U” are determined. Then, based on their personal experience, several experts or scientists judge which fuzzy set or which fuzzy evaluation interval of a specific element “ ${\text{x}}_{0}$ ” in the discourse area ”U” belongs to the fuzzy set “A” The expression of the membership function can be expressed as follows:

where “n” is the number of experts or scientists. In this way, the membership level is determined by the statistical membership frequency. When “n” experts are invited to an experiment, the membership frequency “ $\mu$ ” tends to the stable value as the “n” value increases, and the stable frequency value is the membership degree of the element “ ${\text{x}}_{0}$ ” belonging to the fuzzy set “A”.

Basic steps of first-level comprehensive fuzzy evaluation

Identification of the factor set

When conducting fuzzy assessments, the first step is to identify the various factors that affect the target's assessment results. For example, in a comprehensive safety assessment of a suspension bridge, the influencing factors include the main girder, main tower, main cables, hanging rods and others. The totality of these individual factors is called a factor set and is usually denoted by the symbol “U”. This can be expressed as follows:

Determine the factor weight vector

In the determined factor set ${\text{U}} = \left\{ {\mu_{{1}} ,\mu_{{2}} , \ldots ,\mu_{{\text{n}}} } \right\}$ , each factor has a different influence on the evaluation goal. Therefore, it is necessary to meaningfully divide the weight of each factor and assign a corresponding weight value, which can be determined through an analytical hierarchy process. The weight value of each factor can be converted into a weight vector, generally expressed by “A”:

In the formula, $a_{1} ,a_{2} , \ldots a_{n}$ represents the weight value corresponding to the factor $u_{1} ,u_{2} , \ldots u_{n}$ , and $0 \le a_{i} \le 1$ .

Determine the amount of fuzzy comments

After determining the factor set ${\text{U}} = \left\{ {\mu_{{1}} ,\mu_{{2}} , \ldots ,\mu_{{\text{n}}} } \right\}$ , a corresponding fuzzy comment set needs to be created so that the evaluator can achieve specific judgment results for each element in the factor set. For example, according to the classification of the technical condition of a bridge, the bridge can be divided into categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and the corresponding fuzzy comments on the bridge status include intact, good, fairly good, poor and dangerous. The set of fuzzy evaluation is called fuzzy evaluation theorem and is generally used in the “V” representation, that is:

In the equation, ${\text{v}}_{1} ,{\text{v}}_{2} , \ldots ,{\text{v}}_{m}$ represents “m” fuzzy evaluations created for each factor.

Single factor evaluation

The single factor evaluation refers to the individual evaluation of each factor within the factor set “U”. This process determines the degree of membership of each factor to different ratings in the fuzzy rating set “V”. For example, when evaluating the “i”-th factor $\mu_{{\text{i}}}$ within the factor set “U”, the degree of membership of this factor to the “j”-th evaluation “V” in the fuzzy evaluation set ${\text{v}}_{{\text{j}}}$ can be specified as ${\text{r}}_{{{\text{ij}}}}$ . The membership degrees obtained for the ${\text{i}}$ th factor $\mu_{{\text{i}}}$ can be represented as $r_{j}$ , which in the context of bridge building can be expressed as follows:

In the equation, ${\text{r}}_{{{\text{i1}}}} ,{\text{r}}_{{{\text{i2}}}} , \ldots ,{\text{r}}_{{{\text{im}}}}$ represents the membership degrees of the ${\text{i}}$ th factor to ${\text{m}}$ fuzzy evaluations, where $0 \le {\text{r}}_{{{\text{im}}}} \le 1$ .

Building a comprehensive fuzzy evaluation matrix

When evaluating a goal with multiple influencing factors, the aggregation of the membership degree sets resulting from the evaluation of all factors within the factor set ${\text{U}}$ leads to the creation of a comprehensive assessment matrix for the evaluation goal. This matrix is usually represented by the symbol ${\text{R}}$ . It can be expressed as:

Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

After determining the weight vector $A_{1 \times n}$ for each factor and constructing the comprehensive judgment matrix $R_{{{\text{n}} \times {\text{m}}}}$ , fuzzy transformation is applied to both using fuzzy operators. This process produces a fuzzy valuation vector ${\text{B}} = \left( {{\text{b}}_{{1}} ,{\text{b}}_{{2}} , \ldots ,{\text{b}}_{{\text{m}}} } \right)$ , the calculation formula of which is expressed as follows:

In the equation, " $\circ$ " represents the fuzzy operator.

Fuzzy operator

In the process of fuzzy transformation, fuzzy operators generally include primary factor determination type, primary factor prominence type, unbalanced average type and weighted average type, among others. The weighted average operator is characterized by clear weighting effects and high completeness. Therefore, this article uses the weighted average type operator for calculation. The specific calculation is as follows:

Handling evaluation results

After the calculation process of comprehensive fuzzy evaluation, the final evaluation result “B” is obtained. At this stage it is necessary to process the assessment indicators. This article uses the maximum membership degree principle to process the fuzzy, comprehensive evaluation results and derive explicit evaluation results. The specific calculation method for the maximum membership degree principle is as follows:

Then the comprehensive assessment results of ${\text{i}}_{0}$ levels are determined. This operating method is relatively straightforward, with the majority of comprehensive evaluation approaches typically employing the maximum membership degree principle.

Multi-level fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Typically, when evaluating a complex system, it's necessary to consider the influences of various factors, which may also include sub-factors. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of membership degrees across different factor levels is needed. In such cases, a multi-level assessment must be conducted in conjunction with the situation of each factor layer. When there are numerous influencing factors affecting the evaluation object, it is difficult to meaningfully assign the weights, which means that it is difficult to determine the hierarchy of individual factors within the overall assessment. In such situations, a multi-level fuzzy comprehensive assessment method is needed for determination.

For example, when assessing the condition of a bridge, a bridge is divided into superstructure, substructure, auxiliary structure and bridge deck system according to its structure. Each structure is first subjected to a comprehensive assessment, and the assessment results then serve as single-factor assessments at a higher level. The weights of these four structures are denoted by A, and a comprehensive second-level fuzzy evaluation is performed. The calculation process is as follows.

In the above equation, “C” represents the comprehensive evaluation result of the bridge condition. In cases with multiple influencing factors, it's advisable to first stratify and classify the factors, and then proceed with multi-level fuzzy comprehensive evaluation.

Improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for single tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea

The safety evaluation of single-tower steel box girder bridges over the sea includes various factors, including the steel box girder, concrete main tower, main cables, suspension rods and others, making it a typical multi-dimensional evaluation challenge. In the improved AHP method, although there are weights for each indicator, there is still a subjective element in the expert evaluation process. Therefore, it is crucial to further improve the quality of quantitative assessment through comprehensive fuzzy assessment methods. The evaluation model for single-tower steel box girder oversea suspension bridges based on the improved AHP-Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation is shown in Fig. 2 .

Schematic diagram of the evaluation model for single-tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea based on the improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation.

Health monitoring of a cross-sea single tower steel box girder suspension bridge

The condition monitoring of steel box girder suspension bridges with a tower over the sea primarily requires the installation of various types of sensors on site. These sensors collect monitoring data that reflects the structural safety status. By analyzing and processing this monitoring data, the health status of the structure is determined. This process creates a solid foundation for conducting bridge safety assessments and provides reference and decision support for bridge maintenance and management.

Overview of the bridge health monitoring system

The condition monitoring system for the steel box girder tower suspension bridge over the sea consists of five main subsystems: the sensor subsystem, the data acquisition and transmission subsystem, the data storage and management subsystem, the data processing and analysis subsystem and the structure monitoring. Early warning and security assessment subsystem. These subsystems are integrated using system integration technologies to coordinate the operation of hardware and software components. The configuration of the bridge condition monitoring system is shown in Fig. 3 .

Structure of the health monitoring system of a single tower steel box girder suspension bridge over the sea.

Bridge health monitoring project and sensor placement

According to the structural characteristics of the 2nd Canal Bridge and taking into account the traffic volume and investment scale, the monitoring system for the 2nd Canal Bridge includes the following monitoring projects: wind speed and direction, structure temperature, deflection, cable saddle displacement, temperature and humidity, cable forces, anchor displacement, ship collision seismicity, preload force, cable clamping and vibration. The arrangement of the sensors is shown in Fig. 4 , and a summary of the measurement points can be found in Table 2 . The sampling frequency, units and data volume for each monitoring indicator are shown in Table 3 .

Schematic diagram of the monitoring point layout.

Validation of engineering cases

Project overview.

Bridge No. 2 is an important part of a northern coastal bridge and serves as an important sea connection between the eastern and western parts of the Bay City. It plays an important role in the Qinglan Expressway network. Bridge No. 2 is designed as a continuous, self-anchored steel box girder suspension bridge with a tower and a main span of 260 m. It is equipped with two main cables and 58 hanging rods. The span is 80 + 190 + 260 + 80 m with a total length of 610 m. The main and side panels utilize a suspension design with a continuous, semi-floating four panel system, as shown in Fig. 5 . The tower of Bridge No. 2 consists of a single-column concrete tower and the main girder is made of segmented steel box girder construction. Both the main and side spans are configured as suspension systems, with a main span aspect ratio of 1/12.53 and a side span aspect ratio of 1/18.04.

General structure of the bridge.

Application of the improved AHP in Bridge No. 2

Structure of the evaluation index system.

Based on the structural form, characteristics and monitored content of Bridge No. 2, the AHP was used to hierarchize the structural system of Bridge No. 2. This led to the creation of a rating index system with corresponding hierarchical divisions. The highest level, the target level, refers to the comprehensive assessment of the safety status of Bridge No. 2. The middle level consists of primary indicators, a total of 8, and the lowest level includes secondary indicators, a total of 29. The hierarchical assessment The system for Bridge No. 2 is listed in Table 4 .

In order to obtain the evaluation matrix for each indicator level of the suspension bridge, a survey questionnaire is developed, which is based on the created evaluation indicator system for Bridge No.2 and involves the 9-stage quantitative method for establishing evaluation criteria for each indicator, determining the hierarchical relationships and weight comparisons between the Indicators. Surveys on the No.2 Bridge Evaluation Indicator System were distributed to experts or scientists familiar with suspension bridge designs, and then promptly collected and analyzed.

Construction of an assessment matrix in the form of triangular fuzzy numbers for primary indicators and weight calculation

Based on the ratings assigned from the expert survey questionnaires, coupled with the finite element model analysis of Bridge No. 2, various monitoring values from the health monitoring system and with reference to the “Technical Condition Assessment Standards for Highway Bridges” (JTG/TH21-2011) a comprehensive calculation results in the assessment matrix shown in Table 5 .

The assessment matrix is subjected to a consistency approximation in order to obtain a consistency judgment matrix:

Calculate the nth root of the product of the elements in each row of the consistency judgment matrix:

The above calculation results are orthogonalized to obtain the weight coefficient of each evaluation index: $W_{i} = \frac{{\overline{{W_{i} }} }}{{\sum\nolimits_{j = 1}^{n} {w_{j} } }}$

Through the above calculation, the weights of the first level index steel box beam, concrete main tower, main cable system, suspension system, anchor bar, substructure, auxiliary facilities and environmental factors can be found as follows: 0.0978, 0.0978, 0, 3121, 0.2067, 0.2067, 0.0581, 0.0104, 0.0104, which shows that the weight value of the main cable is the largest and the weight value of the auxiliary facilities and environmental factors is the smallest.

Calculation of secondary indicator weights

Calculation of the secondary indicator weights for the primary evaluation criteria of the first-level box girder

The method of constructing the judgment matrix in the triangular fuzzy number form for same-level indicators is consistent, and the comprehensive results are presented in the following matrix, as shown in Table 6 .

Similarly, the weights for the primary box girder evaluation criteria corresponding to main girder deflection, main girder stress, main girder lateral displacement, main girder longitudinal displacement, and vibration frequency can be determined. The results are shown in Table 7 .

According to Table 7 , it can be observed that the weight value for the vibration frequency of the box girder is the highest, whereas the weight values for main girder stress and main girder longitudinal displacement are the lowest.

Calculation of secondary criterion weights corresponding to the primary evaluation criteria for a concrete main tower

Similarly, the weight values for the primary evaluation criteria corresponding to main tower stress, main tower longitudinal displacement, and main tower lateral displacement can be obtained, as shown in Table 9 .

From Table 9 , it can be inferred that the weight assigned to the longitudinal displacement of the main tower is the highest, while the weight for the stress on the main tower is the lowest.

Calculation of secondary criterion weights corresponding to primary evaluation criteria for primary cable system

Similarly, the weight values for the primary evaluation criteria can be determined according to the main cable force, main cable protection layer, clamping force and saddle displacement, as shown in Table 11 .

From Table 11 , it can be observed that the weight value for the main cable force is the highest, while the weight value for the clamp force is the smallest.

Calculation of secondary indicator weights corresponding to primary suspension rod system evaluation criteria

Similarly, the weights for the evaluation criteria of the primary suspension rod system can be calculated according to the suspension rod tension, the suspension rod protective layer and the damper, as shown in Table 13 .

From Table 13 , it can be seen that the weight value for the tension of the suspender cable is the highest, while the weight value for the protective layer of the suspender cable is the lowest.

Calculation of weights for secondary indicators that correspond to the primary anchoring evaluation criteria.

Similarly, the weight values for the displacement of the primary anchoring system and the concrete strength evaluation criteria can be calculated as shown in Table 15 .

From Table 15 , it can be concluded that the weight value for anchor displacement is the highest, while the weight value for concrete strength is the lowest.

Calculation of weight for secondary indicators corresponding to the primary evaluation criteria for the substructure.

The method of constructing the judgment matrix in the triangular fuzzy number form for indicators at the same level is consistent, and the comprehensive results are presented in the following matrix, as shown in Table 16 .

Similarly, the weight values for the primary substructure assessment criteria corresponding to support displacement, foundation settlement, and concrete strength can be calculated, as shown in Table 17 .

From Table 17 , it can be seen that the weighting value for foundation settlement is the largest, while the weighting value for concrete strength is the smallest.

Calculation of weighting values for secondary indicators that correspond to the primary assessment criteria for ancillary facilities.

Similarly, weight values can be calculated for the primary assessment criteria for ancillary facilities relating to bridge decking, expansion joints, drainage systems, lighting systems and railings, as shown in Table 19 .

From Table 19 , it can be seen that the weight values for bridge deck and expansion joints are the highest, while the weight value for railings is the lowest.

Calculation of weight values for secondary indicators that correspond to the assessment criteria for primary environmental factors.

Similarly, the weight values for wind speed, temperature and humidity can be determined, which correspond to the primary evaluation criteria for environmental factors. As shown in Table 21 :

From Table 21 , it can be concluded that the weight value for CL ions is the highest, while the weight value for temperature is the lowest.

Safety assessment of Canal Bridge No. 2 based on an improved comprehensive AHP + Fuzzy assessment

In accordance with the improved AHP applied to the evaluation criteria system for the components of Bridge No. 2, it is divided into three levels: the highest level (objective level), the intermediate level (first-level indicators), and the lowest level (second-level indicators). In this paper, the eight first-level indicators at the intermediate level are designated as the first layer of the factor set, denoted as $U_{1}$ , and the 28 s-level indicators at the lowest level are designated as the second layer of the factor set, denoted as $U_{2}$ , The weight values of each level's factors are determined based on the calculations presented in " Bridge health monitoring project and sensor placement " section of this paper.

Fuzzy statistical method is employed in this study to determine the membership functions. A survey questionnaire is distributed to relevant experts or scholars to individually evaluate and score all the factors in the third layer of factors set $U_{2}$ . The recipients of the survey questionnaire include the users of Bridge No. 2, maintenance managers, and individuals involved in the bridge load testing. Fuzzy evaluations in this paper are primarily based on relevant specifications, combined with finite element simulation responses, actual data from health monitoring systems, and the real condition of the bridge. The fuzzy evaluations are classified into five levels: "Intact," "Good," "Fairly Good," "Poor," and "Dangerous," denoted as V1 = Intact, V2 = Good, V3 = Fairly Good, V4 = Poor, V5 = Dangerous. The set of fuzzy evaluations is represented as V = {Intact, Good, Fairly Good, Poor, Dangerous}.

Statistical analysis was performed on the distributed and collected expert questionnaires to determine the membership frequencies or membership degrees for each factor indicator. The statistical results are shown in Table 22 .

Index evaluation of the primary index layer of the No. 2 Channel bridge

Evaluation of steel box girder indicator

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the indicators of the second level of the steel box girder is:

The weights of the second level indicators corresponding to the steel box girder criteria are as follows:

The degree of membership defined for the steel box girder indicators is:

According to the principle of maximum membership degree, the highest membership degree of 0.6213 is selected as the comprehensive evaluation result for the steel box girder indicators. Therefore, when assessing its indicators, it must be assumed that it is in an intact state.

Evaluation of the concrete main tower indicator

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the main concrete tower is:

The weights associated with the secondary indicators of the main concrete tower are:

The membership set for the primary indicators of the steel box girder main tower is:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, the highest membership degree of 0.7427 should be selected as the comprehensive evaluation result for the concrete main tower indicators to judge it as being in good condition.

Main cable system

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the main cable system is as follows:

The weights of the secondary indicators corresponding to the main criteria of the cable system are as follows:

The membership degree set for the main cable system indicators is as follows:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, the highest membership degree of 0.7110 is selected as the comprehensive evaluation result for the main indicators of the cable system, and the system is judged to be in good condition.

Suspension rod system

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the suspension rod system is as follows:

The weights of the secondary indicators corresponding to the suspension rod system are as follows:

The degree of membership established for the indicators of the suspension rod system is as follows:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, taking a maximum membership degree of 0.4097 as the comprehensive evaluation result for the suspension rod system indicators, the system should be judged to be in good condition.

Anchor block

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the anchor block is as follows:

The weights of the secondary indicators that correspond to the anchor block criteria are as follows:

The membership degree set for the anchor block criteria is as follows:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, and taking the maximum membership degree of 0.8000 as the comprehensive assessment result for the anchor block criteria, the indicators should be judged to be relatively good.

Substructure

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the substructure criteria is as follows:

The weights of the secondary indicators that correspond to the sub-structural criteria are:

The membership degree set for the substructure criteria is:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, taking the highest membership degree of 0.5073 as the comprehensive evaluation result for the substructure criteria, the indicators should be judged to be in a sound condition.

Auxiliary facilities

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the auxiliary facilities criteria is:

The weights of the secondary indicators corresponding to the criteria for auxiliary facilities are:

The membership degree set for the criteria for auxiliary facilities is:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, selecting the highest membership degree of 0.4108 as the comprehensive assessment result for the aid facility criteria indicates that the indicators are in good condition.

Environmental factors

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the secondary indicators of the environmental factors criteria is:

The weights of the secondary indicators corresponding to the criteria for environmental factors are:

The degree of membership established for the environmental factors criteria is:

According to the maximum membership degree principle and choosing the highest membership degree of 0.5070 as the comprehensive evaluation result for the environmental factor criteria, the indicators should be evaluated as being in good condition.

Overall safety assessment of Bridge No. 2

The fuzzy matrix corresponding to the primary indicators of Bridge No. 2 is as follows:

The weights of the primary indicators corresponding to Bridge No. 2 are:

The membership degree set for Bridge No. 2 is:

According to the maximum membership degree principle, selecting the highest membership degree of 0.6413 as the result of the comprehensive safety assessment for Bridge No. 2 indicates that the overall safety assessment is in a solid state.

Based on the above, the comprehensive safety assessment results of various systems and the overall structure of Bridge No. 2 are shown in Table 23 .

The safety status assessment of Bridge No. 2 relied on the improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method proposed in this study and showed favorable results. The introduced improved AHP-Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method for bridge safety evaluation has certain significance for technical guidance.

Conclusions

Using the triangular fuzzy number method, improvements have been made to the judgment matrix, allowing experts to rate the importance of indicators without being confined to providing an exact numerical value; instead, they need only provide a score range. This reduces the influence of subjective factors on the evaluation results, ensures the consistency of the judgment matrix, and improves the performance of determining the AHP indicator weight.

By combining the improved AHP with a comprehensive fuzzy assessment, a model is constructed to evaluate the safety status of a single-tower steel box girder suspension bridge over the sea. Building on the determination of the weights of various evaluation indicators using the improved AHP, the comprehensive fuzzy evaluation method is applied to calculate the membership degrees of each indicator, thereby evaluating the safety status of the bridge, resulting in a more reasonable and reliable evaluation result.

The assessment of the safety status of the No. 2 Channel Bridge shows that the bridge is currently in good condition overall and should undergo routine maintenance in the future. It was found that the main cable system of the suspension bridge has the highest weight values, while the weightage of auxiliary facilities and environmental factors is the lowest. Among the environmental factors, chloride ions (CL) were assigned the highest weightage, which can corrode the concrete structure of the bridge, requiring increased additional anti-corrosion measures.

The assessment of the safety status of the No. 2 Channel Bridge shows that the proposed method is effective in assessing bridges under the condition that data from health monitoring systems are collected, so as to determine the safety status of the bridge. This method also accurately evaluates the index system and is of considerable importance for engineering guidance.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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This research was funded by the research project (2022QDFZYG02) grant from Shandong Expressway Qingdao Development Corporation.

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Conceptualization, H.S.; methodology, C.G.; software, C.G.; validation, C.G. and H.S.; formal analysis, Z.W.; investigation, C.G. and Z.W.; resource, F.S. and L.S.; data curation, T.H.; writing—original draft preparation, H.S.; writing—review and editing, C.G., D.K. and L.S.; visualization, C.G. and D.K.; supervision, H.S.; project administration, H.S.; funding acquisition, T.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Su, H., Guo, C., Wang, Z. et al. Research on safety condition assessment methodology for single tower steel box girder suspension bridges over the sea based on improved AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Sci Rep 14 , 12079 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61579-1

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Evaluation Research: Definition, Methods and Examples

Quantitative methods

What is evaluation research?

Why do evaluation research?

Below are some of the benefits of evaluation research

Methods of evaluation research

Examples of evaluation research

Process evaluation research question examples:

Outcome evaluation research question examples:

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Project Evaluation Examples | 2024 Practical Guide with Templates For Beginners

Table of Contents

Tips For Better Engagement

Looking for an interactive way to manage your project better?.

1/ Clear Objectives and Criteria:

2/ Data Collection and Analysis:

3/ Performance Measurement:

4/ Stakeholder Engagement:

5/ Reporting and Communication:

#1 – Performance Evaluation:

#2 – Outcomes Evaluation:

#3 – Process Evaluation:

#4 – Impact Evaluation:

#1 – Performance Evaluation

#2 – Outcomes Evaluation

#3 – Process Evaluation – Project Evaluation Examples

#4 – Impact Evaluation

1/ Define the Purpose and Objectives:

2/ Identify Evaluation Criteria and Indicators:

3/ Plan Data Collection Methods:

4/ Collect Data:

5/ Analyze Data:

6/ Draw Conclusions and Make Recommendations:

7/ Communicate and Share Results:

Key Takeaways

What are the 4 types of project evaluation?

What are the 5 elements of evaluation in project management?

More from AhaSlides

Evaluating Research – Process, Examples and Methods

Evaluating Research

Research Evaluating Process

Identify the Research Question

Assess the Study Design

Evaluate the Sample

Review the Data Collection Methods

Examine the Statistical Analysis

Assess the Conclusions

Consider the Limitations

Evaluating Research Methods

Example of Evaluating Research

Applications of Evaluating Research

Purpose of Evaluating Research

Characteristics Evaluating Research

Advantages of Evaluating Research

Limitations of Evaluating Research

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

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