Building Capacity for Participatory Evaluation Within Community Initiatives

• DOI: 10.1300/j005v26n02_03
• Publication Date: 2003-11-19T16:26:12Z
• Authors: Stephen B. Fawcett; Renée Boothroyd; Jerry A. Schultz; Vincent T. Francisco; Valorie Carson; Roderick Bremby
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 0305 other medical science

Abstract Participatory evaluation is the process by which those doing the work contribute to understanding and improving it. In the context of community initiatives, this often involves co-production of knowledgelocal people and outside evaluators sharing responsibility for gathering data and interpreting its meaning. We outline a six-component framework for participatory evaluation: (a) Naming and framing the problem/goal to be addressed, (b) Developing a logic model (or theory of practice) for how to achieve success, (c) Identifying evaluation questions and appropriate methods, (d) Documenting the intervention and its effects, (e) Making sense of the data, and (f) Using the information to celebrate and make adjustments. Incorporating examples from different community initiatives, we examine how to support and build capacity for participatory evaluation. To help guide the collaborative work of participatory evaluation among community members and outside evaluators, we outline orienting questions (e.g., w...