Week 4 Discussion

Evaluative Questions

In seeking to obtain feedback on the success of a program, human services professionals often conduct surveys and deliver questionnaires to a program’s target population (clients) to help measure the effectiveness of particular programs. Surveys and questionnaires can produce results that are quantitative, qualitative, or both—depending on the questions asked and the feedback received. It is important to carefully consider what types of questions to ask clients when evaluating a program. Oftentimes, descriptions of clients’ reactions to or experiences with the program can be just as informative as quantitative data showing how many clients accessed services.

Evaluation questions must be reasonable and appropriate and should deal with performance dimensions that are relevant to the program. For an evaluation question to be answerable, it must be unambiguous, noncontroversial, observable, and measurable. Examples of these types of questions include:

• Since attending this program, have you found employment?
• How many times have you accessed the services of this program?
• What are some elements of the program that you disliked or thought could have been improved?

For this Discussion, think about the homeless population in your community. Consider the types of questions you would ask to gauge the effectiveness of the human services programs available to that population.

To prepare for this Discussion:  

• Review Chapter 9 in your course text, focusing on the relationship between the types of data gathered and the design of the program evaluation.
• Review the article “Values in Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” Focus on the differences between qualitative and quantitative research and the value of using each approach to evaluate human services programs.
• Think about the homeless population from your community. Develop two questions you might ask the homeless population in your community receiving aid from a human services program. The questions should be created to evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery of that program.

With these thoughts in mind:

• Do the two questions you created to evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery of a program for the homeless population in your community. Then, explain whether the answers to these questions would elicit quantitative or qualitative results. Explain how the answers to these questions would inform an evaluation of the program. Finally, explain the benefits of performing a mixed analysis of both quantitative and qualitative aspects of a program.