Program Design & Evaluation Flashcards

Which approach to evaluation places the greatest emphasis on empowering participants and communities to conduct their own evaluations?

Answer: Participatory evaluation

Participatory evaluation involves community members as co-evaluators, building local capacity and ensuring evaluation reflects community values and priorities.

A nonprofit wants to demonstrate that its job-training program caused increased employment. The strongest causal evidence would come from:

Answer: A randomized controlled trial comparing graduates to a control group

An RCT with random assignment isolates the program's effect from other variables, providing the strongest evidence of causation.

In program scaling decisions, 'horizontal scaling' means:

Answer: Expanding the program to new geographic areas or populations

Horizontal scaling (scale-out) replicates a program across new sites or populations, as opposed to deepening (vertical scaling) within existing communities.

A nonprofit conducts a cost-benefit analysis and finds a ratio of 3:1. This means:

Answer: For every dollar spent, three dollars of benefit are generated

A 3:1 cost-benefit ratio indicates that the program generates $3 in measured benefits for every $1 invested.

Which term describes the minimum level of program participation needed to produce measurable outcomes?

Answer: Threshold dosage

Threshold dosage is the minimum exposure or participation level at which the program can be expected to produce its intended effects.

When selecting indicators for program evaluation, nonprofit consultants should prioritize indicators that are:

Answer: Valid, reliable, and feasible to collect with available resources

Good indicators must measure what they claim to (validity), produce consistent results (reliability), and be practically collectable within program constraints.

A nonprofit's program is described as evidence-informed rather than evidence-based. This distinction means the program:

Answer: Incorporates research findings but has not been subjected to rigorous efficacy testing itself

Evidence-informed programs draw on existing research to shape their design without themselves having been tested through rigorous experimental studies.