1. S519: Evaluation of Information Systems
Evaluation Report Template

2. The steps involved (D-p4)
Step1: understanding the basic about evaluation (ch1)
Step2: defining the main purposes of the evaluation and the „big picture“ questions that need answers (ch2)
Step3: Identifying the evaluative criteria (ch3)
Step4: Organizing the list of criteria and choosing sources of evidence (collecting data) (ch4)

3. The steps involved (D-p4)
Step5: analyzing data
dealing with the causation issue (which cause what, why), to avoid „subjectivity“ (ch5+6)
importance weighting: weight the results (ch7)
Meric determination: how well your evaluand has done on the criteria (good? Unacceptable?) (ch8)
Synthesis methodology: systematic methods for condensing evaluation findings (ch9)
Staticistical analysis: Salkind (2007)

4. The steps involved (D-p4)
Step6: result
Putting it all together: fitting the pieces into the KEC framework (ch10)
Step7: feedback
Meta-evaluation: how to figure out whether your evlauation is any good (ch11)

5. The Key Evaluation Checklist (Davidson, 2005, p. 6-7)
I. Executive
Summary
II. Preface
III. Methodology
1. Background
& Context
2. Descriptions
& Definitions 3.
Consumers 4.
Resources
5. Values
6. Process
Evaluation
7. Outcome
Evaluation
10.
Exportability
8 & 9. Comparative
Cost-Effectiveness
11. Overall Significance
14.
Reporting
&
Follow-up
12.
Recommendations
& Explanations
13. Responsibilities
15. Meta-evaluation

6. Step 1: Understand the basic of evaluation
Identify the evaluand
Background and context of evaluand
Why did this program or product come into existence in the first place?
Descriptions and definitions
Describe the evaluand in enough detail so that virtually anyone can understand what it is and what it does
How: collect background information, pay a firsthand visit or literature review

7. Step1: Output report
Output: one or two page overview of the evaluand and findings
What is your evaluand
Background and context of your evaluand
Description of your evaluand
Try to be as detail as possible

8. Step2: Defining the Purpose of the Evaluation (D-Ch2)
Who asked for this evaluation and why?
What are the main evaluation questions?
Who are the main audience?
Aboslute merit or relative merit

9. Step2: Output report
Your step2 output report should answer the following questions:
Define the evaluation purpose
Do you need to demonstrate to someone (yourself) the overall quality of something?
Or Do you need to find a file for improvement?
Or do you do both?
Once you answer above questions, figure out what are your big picture questions:
Is your evaluation related to the absolute merit of your evaluand?
Or the relative merit of your evaluand

10. Step3: Defining evaluative criteria
To build a criterion list, consider the following procedures:
A needs assessment
Logic model of linking the evaluand to the needs
An assesment of other relevant values, such as process, outcomes, and cost
A strategy to organize your criterion checklist
Make sure that you go into the evaluation with a well-thought-out plan so that you know what you need to know, where to get that information, and how you are going to put it together when you write up your report.

11. Needs assessment
Understand the true needs of your evaluation end users (consumers or impactees)
Who are your end users?
They are the person or entity who buys or users a product or service, enroll in a training program,etc.
Upstream stakeholder (i.e. People on upper level of the structure – manager, designer)
Immediate recipients (i.e. People who directly consume your product or service – consumer, trainee)
Downstream consumers (i.e. People who indirectly involved in your evaluation)

12. Understanding needs Needs vs. Wants Different kind of needs
Difference and why
A need is something without which unsatisfactory functioning occurs.
Different kind of needs
Context dependence
Conscious needs vs. Unconsious needs
Needs we know and needs we do not know
Met needs vs. Unmet needs
Building a factory (increase job, but create pollution)
Performance needs vs. Instrumental needs
„need to do“ something for satisfactory functioning (actual problems) vs. Proposed solutions
Access vs. Lightweight laptop
Most of the case, performance needs is considered, but not the instrumental needs

13. Needs assessment method
Two phases:
Identifying and documenting performance needs
Investigating the underlying causes of performance needs
Training program
Improved skills
Improved performance

14. Step3: output report Needs assessment
Identify consumers or impactees (e.g. Table3.2)
Identify different needs (e.g. Table3.3)
Logic model (e.g. Exhibit3.6 and Exhibit3.7)
An assessment of other relavent values with the consideration of process, outcome and cost (e.g. Table3.4)
Organizing your criteria
see step4 output report

15. Step4: Organizing criteria and indentifying sources of evidence
When organizing your criteria, always keep the followings in mind:
Process
How good are the evaluand‘s content and implementation
Outcomes
How good are the impacts on immediate recipients and other impactees
Comparative Cost-Effectives
How costly is it? Excessive, quite high, acceptable or reasonable
Exportability
How can we extend this to other settings?

16. The process evaluation checkpoint
Content
What the evaluand consists of, i.e., basic components or design)
Implementation
How well or efficiently the evaluand was implemented or delivered to the consumers who needed it
Other features
Any other features that make the program good or bad which are not covered by the first two and are not outcomes or cost-related criteria
category
Subcategories and criteria
Source of evdience
Content evaluation
Implementation evlauation
Others (if necessary)

17. The outcome evaluation checkpoint
What is outcome
Things that happen as a result of the program
Outcomes can affect anyone listed as consumers
How to do
Based on logic model in step3 (e.g. Exhibit3.6 and Exhibit3.7)
Organize them into subcategories
See Table4.3 (D-p60)
category
Subcategories and criteria
Source of evdience
Knowledge, skill and attitude gain
Application of knowledge, skill and attitudes

18. The comparative cost-effectiveness checkpoint
Any evaluation has to take cost into account
What are costs?
Money
Time
Effort
Space
Opportunity costs

19. The exportability checkpoint
What elements of the evaluand (i.e., innovative design or approach) might make it potentially valuable or a significant contribution or advance in another setting

20. Step4: Output report Checkpoints for Process (e.g. Table4.1, 4.2)
Outcomes (e.g., Table4.3)
Comparative Cost-Effectives (e.g., cost cube table)
Exportability
Short summary of potential areas for exportability

21. Mid-term report
Step 1- Step 4

22. Step5: Analysing data 5.1 Inferencing causation
5.2 Determining importance
5.3 Merit determination
5.4 Synthesis

23. 5.1 Certainty about causation (D-ch5)
Each decision-making context requires a different level of certainty
Quantitative or qualitative analysis
All-quantitative or all-qualitative
Sample choosing
Sample size
Mix of them
More in statistical analysis

24. Inferrencing causation: 8 strategies
1. Ask observers
2. Check whether the content of the evaluand matches the outcome
3. Look for other telltale patterns that suggest one cause or another
4. Check whether the timing of outcomes makes sense
5. Check whether the „dose“ is related logically to the „response“.
6. Make comparisons with a „control“ or „comparison“ group
7. Control statistically for extraneous variables
8. Identify and check the underlying causal mechanism(s)

25. 5.2 Determining importance (D-ch7)
5.2 Importance determiniation is the process of assigning labels to dimensions or components to indicate their importance.
Different evaluations
Dimensional evaluation
Component evaluation
Holistic evaluation

26. Determining importance: 6 strategies
1. having stakeholders or consumers „vote“ on importance
2. Drawing on the knowledge of selected stakeholders
3. Using evidence from the literature
4. Using specialist judgment
5. Using evidence from the needs and values assessments
6. Using program theory and evidence of causal linkages

27. 5.3 Merit determination
It is the process of setting „standards“ (definitions of what performance should constitute „satisfactory“, „good“, etc.) and applying those standards to descriptive data to draw explicitly evaluative conclusions about performance on a particular dimension or component.
Decscriptive facts about performance
Quality or value determinatoin guide
Evaluative conclusions

28. Rubric
Rubric is a tool that provides an evaluative description of what performance or quality „looks like“.
It has two levels:
Grading rubric is used to determin absolute quality or value (e.g., Table8.2)
Ranking rubric is used to determin relative quality or value

29. 5.4 Synthesis methodology
Synthesis is the process of combining a set of ratings or performances on several components or dimensions into an overall rating.
Quantitative synthesis
Using numerical weights
Qualitative synthesis
Using qualitative labels

30. Qualitative (nonnumerical) weighting example 2
Dimension by dimension
Layer by layer
Sub-dimnention1
Dimnention1
Sub-dimnention2
Overall rating
Sub-dimnention3
Dimnention2
Sub-dimnention4

31. Step 6: Result
Putting it all together: fitting the pieces into the KEC framework (ch10)
Now we are ready to write our evaluation report.

32. Step 7: Feedback (optional)
Meta-evaluation: how to figure out whether your evlauation is any good (ch11)

33. Related links KEC Questionnaire examples
Questionnaire examples