 Key Concepts in Program Evaluation

 1-Program Environment
 2-Program Intended Outcomes
 3-Program Effectiveness
 4-Program’s Observed Outcomes
 5-Attribution
  Program Environment
 The program has been depicted in a
‘box’, which serves as a conceptual
boundary between the program and
program environment.
  Program Intended Outcomes
 The intended objectives, which we can
think of as statement of the program’s
intended outcomes, are shown as
occurring outside the program itself,
that is, the intended outcomes are
results intended to make a difference
outside of the program itself.
  Program Effectiveness
 Assessing program effectiveness is the

most common reason we conduct program

evaluation. We want to know whether,
and to what extend, the program’s
actual results are consistent with
the outcomes we expected.
  Program’s Observed Outcomes
 The causal link between the program and

its outcomes has been modified in two

ways: intended outcomes has been
replaced by the program’s observed
outcomes and a question mark (?) has
been placed over the causal arrow.
  Attribution
 We have introduced the attribution
question, that is, the extent to which
our program was the cause of the
outcomes we observed in doing the
evaluation.