Perhaps you’ve had the experience of a family member in the kitchen giving you feedback as you prepare a dish for the first time. Evaluation is happening around us in our day-to-day lives more often than you think!
As you develop plans and begin to implement your program, who do you let in the kitchen? What tools are available to you to measure, create, and document your work, so that your recipe can be shared with others?
An evaluation approach helps guide the development of evaluation questions, data collection, analysis, and how you interpret and share the results (also referred to as dissemination). Traditionally, program evaluation requirements are outlined by a grant funder, program developers, or administrators. Participatory and other community-centered evaluation approaches are consistent with NLN’s community-centered evidence-based practice (CCEBP) model. A focus on community strengths are a common feature of the methods and tools in this section. While we highlight the applicability to gender-based and domestic violence practice, the approaches have been used in a range of community-based and culturally specific settings.