Final evaluation and research design

Initial Evaluation Design

Agiolela’i Penitusi

Walden University

24 December 2016

How to implement evaluation design within an official policy evaluation

The process of research, as well as the results obtained from the research process, need to be as efficient and practical as possible. Series of decisions need to be made to ensure that basic evaluation and design concepts are explicitly explained and implemented (Kuechler, 2015). There is also necessary to illustrate the application of proper evaluation procedures and more so, recommend the most appropriate actions steps which will serve as a guideline to different projects. Necessary steps to be undertaken while implementing evaluation designs include;

a) Deciding on the purpose of the evaluation process

b) Determining the primary questions which need to be answered during the research process

c) Determining the order in which research questions need to be answered and presented

d) Making a decision on who will constitute the primary audience for the result evaluation

e) Determining how the results will be useful to the society and research report users.

The best example of implementation of research design is through the involvement of change models and more so, determination of primary indicators for the sake of gauging research effectiveness. Examples of such indicators include; research validity, research reliability, research sensitivity, research utility and more so, research usefulness (Kuechler, 2015). Design evaluation can be more practical particularly when professionalism is considered.

Implementation choices

There is a need to determine the best aspects, which can be used to determine how the best variables can be measured. The project and institutional personnel for the purpose of data presentation can utilize reports and records. Other examples include the attendance reports in the case of an institutional setting, and graduation records as well as SAT scores. These form a good basis and sources of evaluation choices. Individual studies and audits can be used where data is not accurate. Fundamental aspects need to be put into consideration during the implementation phase and research evaluation design;

a) The resources that are required to collect the data based on indicators selected.

b) The exact time when the indicator will be considered of use especially in facilitating the decision-making process

c) The period within which the meaningful changes in the levels of indicators can be expected to give projected activities.

How you would address validity threats, particularly internal validity

Common research validity threats include;

a) Selection

If individuals who are selected for the experimental group is different from that chosen from the control group, this is bound to compromise the results of the research in question. There is a need to eliminate selection bias to handle this threat and more so, to ensure that all groups can be adequately compared (Gray, 2016).

b) Mortality

Mortality involves the loss of research subjects from an intervention. This is as compared to the usual control group in the experiment and topic under study. To avoid such differences, there is a need to be accurate enough in determining performance.

c) Hawthorne effect

The Hawthorne effect is one issue that needs to be considered in research evaluation and design. This new system can be used to test the improvement of performance especially when subjects under study are aware that they are under supervision. This way, more effort will be focused on effectiveness. This threat can be countered through educational intervention.

References

Vaishnavi, V. K., & Kuechler, W. (2015). Design science research methods and patterns: innovating information and communication technology. Crc Press.

Gray, C., & Malins, J. (2016). Visualizing research: A guide to the research process in art and design. Routledge.