Evaluation Questions

Authors: Hallie Udelson, Lori Wingate, and Goldie MacDonald.

This Library Guide includes a selection of open access materials on evaluation questions from a variety of authors, organizations, and settings. Evaluation questions define what will be addressed in a program evaluation. They provide the focus and establish boundaries for the inquiry. [1] A prominent evaluation theorist and practitioner explained, “clarification of and discrimination between the various types of questions which evaluations undertake to answer is absolutely fundamental to getting a useful answer at all.” [2]

The authors completed a detailed literature search and careful review of approximately 100 candidate items; each item below meets predetermined criteria of merit, relevance, and accessibility. This Library Guide includes materials in four categories as follows: Introduction to Evaluation Questions; How to Develop or Use Evaluation Questions; Evaluation Questions Linked to Evaluation Approaches, Designs, or Criteria; and Discussion of Evaluation Questions in Specific Contexts.

[1] Wingate L, Schroeter D. Evaluation questions checklist for program evaluation. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University; 2016.

[2] Scriven, M. The Logic of Evaluation. Port Reyes, CA: Edge Press; 1980.

Author affiliations:

Hallie Udelson is an Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Fellow in the Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development; Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, USA.

Lori Wingate is the Director of Research at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, USA.

Goldie MacDonald is the Associate Director for Evaluation in the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, USA .

Disclaimer:

The findings and conclusions in this guide are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Wingate L, Schroeter D. Evaluation questions checklist for program evaluation. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University; 2016.

• Davidson EJ. Question-driven methods or method-driven questions? How we limit what we learn by limiting what we ask. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation. 2015;11(24):i-x.

• Rogers P. Formulating useful evaluation questions. In: Evaluation Interest Group’s Speakers Forum. United States Agency for International Development. Published January 18, 2013. [Video].

• Robinson SB. Ask a brilliant question, get an elegant answer?  In: Sheila B Robinson. Published January 18, 2014. [Blog].

• Taylor-Powell E, Steele S, Douglah M. What questions will the evaluation seek to answer? In: Planning a program evaluation. Madison, WI: Cooperative Extension of University of Wisconsin. Extension item G3658-1. 1996; 5-20.

• Specify the key evaluation questions. BetterEvaluation website. Published 2016.

• United States Agency for International Development. Tips for developing good evaluation questions. Published July 31, 2015.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Developing process evaluation questions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2009:4.

• W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Using your logic model to plan for evaluations. In: W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide. Battle Creek, Michigan: W.K. Kellogg Foundation; 2004:35-48.
  • This resource requires an email address to download the PDF.

• Rogers P. Linking evaluation questions to strategies and approaches. United States Agency for International Development. Published January 14, 2013. [Webinar].

• Morra Imas LG, Rist RC. Developing evaluation questions and starting the design matrix. In: The Road to Results: Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2009:221-246. DOI 10.1596/978-0-8213-7891-5.
  • This resource is available in Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, English, and Spanish.

• Morra Imas LG, Rist RC. Selecting desgins for cause-and-effect, descriptive, and normative evaluation questions. In: The Road to Results: Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2009:247-288. DOI 10.1596/978-0-8213-7891-5.
  • This resource is available in Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, English, and Spanish.

• MacDonald G, Martens K, Wingate L. Questions, data, conclusions, and recommendations: Connecting the dots for an effective evaluation. In: EvaluATE Webinar Series. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University. Published November 20, 2013. [Webinar].

• United States General Accounting Office. Types of design. In: Designing Evaluations. Gaithersburg, MD: United States General Accounting Office. Item GAO/PEMD-10.1.4. 1991:30-69.

• International Program for Development Evaluation. Evaluation questions. In: International Program for Development Evaluation Training Handbook. International Program for Development Evaluation; 2007:225-251.

• World Health Organization. Defining evaluation questions and criteria. In: WHO Evaluation Practice Handbook. Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2013:18-25.

• Stern E, Stame N, Mayne J, Forss K, Davies R, Befani B. Evaluation questions and evaluation designs. In: Broadening the Range of Designs and Methods for Impact Evaluations. Department for International Development working paper 38.  Published April 2012:36-48.

• EuropeAid Co-operation Office Joint Evaluation Unit. Evaluation questions. In: Evaluation Methods for the European Union’s External Assistance. Methodological Bases for Evaluation; vol 1. Luxemburg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; 2006:43-65.

• RMC Research Corporation. The evaluator’s reference for chapter 1 neglected or delinquent youth programs. Washington, DC: Office of Vocational and Adult Education, US Department of Education; 1986:54-230.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Identify and prioritize evaluation questions. In: WISEWOMAN Evaluation Toolkit. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015:11-31.