Evaluation

Program evaluation: what is it?

The quick answer: Evaluation places value. Research answers questions.

The longer description is: Evaluation is an enterprise whose primary goal is to identify whether desired changes have been achieved. Evaluation is a type of applied social research that is conducted with a value, or set of values, in its "denominator." Evaluation research is always conducted with an eye to whether the outcomes, or results, of a program, initiative or policy were achieved, especially as these outcomes are compared to a desired & valued standard or criterion. At the heart of program evaluation is the idea that outcomes, or changes, are valuable and desired. Some outcomes are more valuable than others. Evaluators conduct evaluation research to find out if these valued changes are, in fact, achieved by the program or initiative.

Why do I need it?

Evaluation is Different From Other Kinds of Social Research

Evaluation research is distinct from other forms of applied social research in so far as it:

a. seeks to determine the merit, value, and/or worth of a program or initiative’s activities & results.

b. entails the systematic collection of empirical data that is used to measure the processes and/or outcomes of a program, with the goal of furthering the program’s development and improvement.

c. provides actionable information for decision-makers & program stakeholders, so that, based on objective data, a program can be strengthened or curtailed.

d. focuses on particular knowledge (usually about a program and its outcomes), rather than seeks widely generalizable & universal knowledge.

What does an evaluator DO?

Determining if the research answered the questions in one part of a project. Determining what value it has is the other. Evaluation is usually conducted by a more outside party who may have some working knowledge about the topic. They work with the PI/project team from the start in order to aide the team in determining if objectives are attainable and determines how they can collect useful, credible, accurate, & feasible data. The means that evaluators must both be competent social scientists & exercise value-based judgments & interpretations about the meaning of data.

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Current & Prior Evaluation Projects

USDA AgVets: 2

• AgVets at GLCCC

• Arcadia’s veteran farmer training

USDA AFRI & Virginia Tech: FACT: Regional Multisector Cyberbiosecurity Workshop to Safeguard the Agriculture and Food Bioeconomy: Community Building, Training, Strategy

USDA AFRI: An integrated approach to address COVID-19 concerns in food supply chain

USDA: Sustainability Scholars Program: Increasing underrepresented student success through experiential learning

USDA WAMS: Cyberbiosecurity in middle school aged girls in STEM

USDA REEU's: 3

• Securing our food: a translational experience for undergraduate students in plant sciences

• Equipping a new generation of plant scientists to solve global food insecurity: An interdisciplinary summer REEU program

• Training future leaders to solve resource challenges at the confluence of water and society

NSF: Unraveling mechanisms and ecological role of non-proteinaceous ice nucleation activity in Gram-positive bacteria

USDA FSOP: Rules to reality: Practical application of produce food safety for small to mid-size Virginia farms

Virginia Tech ICAT: Virginia Tech Department of Civil Engineering: A Clinical and Social Adoption Study of Frailty Diagnosis Through Passive Gait Monitoring

Virginia Tech CALS Integrated Research: Precision Turfgrass Management Adoption

American Evaluation Association Member