Process Evaluation

Process evaluation includes monitoring of program activities to assess whether they are being implemented as planned. Among other benefits, this type of evaluation can:

  • Help your organization to identify and address any challenges or gaps in program delivery
  • Guide corrective actions to take as needed to maintain program quality
  • Provide important contextual information to help you interpret your outcome evaluation (e.g., if certain outcomes do not change as expected, it can help you understand why)

What Should We Evaluate?

Process evaluation may focus on various dimensions of implementation and could address questions such as the following:

  • Participant recruitment and enrollment: How many people are being reached and are priority populations adequately represented?
  • Program implementation: Are planned activities being carried out as intended? For example, for educational programming, are all components of lessons included and delivered as intended?
  • Dose delivered: Is the amount of programming provided to participants consistent with the amount that you intended to provide?
  • Staff training and support: Are staff members adequately trained and equipped to deliver services?
  • Cultural appropriateness: Are services being delivered in a culturally competent and accessible manner?

As with other types of evaluation, your organization will need to consider tradeoffs between the value of collecting various types of process data and the burden required to collect, analyze, and interpret those data. A program evaluation expert can help you to determine which factors may be most important to prioritize.

What Methods Should We Use?

A variety of methods can be used to collect data to address process evaluation questions like the ones above. Here are some examples:

  • Direct observation: Observing program activities to assess whether they are implemented as intended
  • Checklists: Creating checklists to document the completion of specific program elements
  • Program enrollment and retention data: Tracking the number of participants and their participation rates (e.g., number of sessions attended)
  • Staff interviews and/or surveys: Gathering feedback on program implementation challenges and successes
  • Participant feedback forms: Collecting participant perspectives on program delivery and effectiveness

Tips for Process Evaluation

Whatever approaches your organization takes to process evaluation, the following tips may help position you for success:

  • Involve stakeholders: Collaborate with staff, participants, community partners, and organizational leadership to design and implement your process evaluation plan
  • Keep it simple: Use evaluation methods that are practical and feasible in the context of the resources you have available
  • Consider using a mix of methods: Combining different methods can provide a more comprehensive picture of program implementation compared with using just one approach
  • Be consistent: Collect data regularly to monitor how your program is being implemented over time
  • Use data to inform action: Share evaluation findings with staff and make necessary adjustments to the program