The Improve Group has had enlightening experiences working across projects requiring multiple languages and leading us to use all manner of data collection – from one-on-one interviews, to focus groups, to our own Image Grouping participatory techniques. We’ve worked in a variety of contexts and regions, with a wide variety of participant groups.
October 25, 2013 - 10:39am
October 22, 2013 - 3:17pm
This morning, National Public Radio featured a piece on the upcoming results aspect of Charity Navigator’s rating system.
September 4, 2013 - 2:18pm
Depending on what you want to accomplish through evaluation, some approaches may require a big investment of time or money.
August 20, 2013 - 10:05am
Using surveys, whether on the general public or a targeted population of interest, can be an effective and fruitful way to gather information. However, there may be, at times, reasons to question whether your survey participants are being honest with their results.
August 15, 2013 - 10:24am
Pre- and post-tests collect and compare individuals’ responses before and after an intervention. You must have a method of identifying the participant so that you can measure the change from the first survey to the second. One potential way to both maintain confidentiality and link surveys from pre- to post is to anonymously generate ID codes for the participants. However, they need to be codes that can be easily recovered if needed and are unlikely to be duplicated across multiple respondents. This topic recently came up on an evaluation listserv.
July 31, 2013 - 9:22am
Planning for the International Year of Evaluation in 2015 is taking off! Also referred to as EvalYear, it will be a unique opportunity to focus specifically on evaluation and its importance in the development and implementation of sustainable programs.
July 24, 2013 - 7:46pm
Four years ago, the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) began granting funds to help communities in Minnesota with the goal of making healthy choices be the easy choices.
June 21, 2013 - 1:45pm
Frequently, analysts or evaluators gather information of workers, children, programs, participants and so on, and subsequently realize that information is missing on some important variables for several respondents in the sample. For example, in a survey we have administered to artists in communities around the country, some artists choose not to report their interests in specific services or income level. Missing data is an issue in nearly every study, and the evaluator has to decide which methods are the most appropriate for dealing with this complex issue.