CPE CPE Utilization-Focused Evaluation & Decision Making 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE), developed by Michael Quinn Patton, prioritizes:
- Maximizing the length of the evaluation report
- Ensuring evaluation findings are actually used by intended users for intended purposes (Correct answer)
- Publishing results in peer-reviewed journals only
- Minimizing stakeholder involvement to protect objectivity
Correct answer: Ensuring evaluation findings are actually used by intended users for intended purposes
UFE is premised on the idea that an evaluation's value lies in its use, so it is designed around the needs of specific intended users from the start.
Question 2: In UFE, 'intended users' are best described as:
- All members of the general public
- Specific, identified individuals who will apply evaluation findings to decisions (Correct answer)
- Only the program's external funders
- Academic researchers who study the program
Correct answer: Specific, identified individuals who will apply evaluation findings to decisions
Intended users in UFE are specific, named individuals—not abstract groups—who have a real stake in the evaluation and will use its findings.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes 'process use' in evaluation?
- Using the evaluation findings after the report is published
- Learning and changes that occur as a result of participating in the evaluation process itself (Correct answer)
- The steps followed to collect quantitative data
- The financial process for billing evaluation services
Correct answer: Learning and changes that occur as a result of participating in the evaluation process itself
Process use refers to the learning and organizational changes that happen because stakeholders are engaged in the evaluation process, independent of the final findings.
Question 4: A CPE applying UFE principles should identify the primary intended users:
- After the evaluation report is finalized
- At the start of the evaluation, before data collection begins (Correct answer)
- Only when findings are inconclusive
- During the dissemination phase
Correct answer: At the start of the evaluation, before data collection begins
UFE requires identifying intended users at the outset so the evaluation design, questions, and methods can be tailored to ensure relevance and usability.
Question 5: Which factor MOST threatens the utilization of evaluation findings?
- Having too many evaluation questions
- Findings delivered too late to inform the decision they were meant to support (Correct answer)
- Using mixed methods
- Involving stakeholders in instrument review
Correct answer: Findings delivered too late to inform the decision they were meant to support
Timeliness is critical in evaluation use; findings that arrive after key decisions have been made cannot influence those decisions regardless of their quality.
Question 6: In the context of evaluation decision making, 'formative evaluation' is designed to:
- Judge a completed program's overall worth
- Improve a program while it is still being developed or implemented (Correct answer)
- Determine whether a program should be terminated
- Measure long-term community impact only
Correct answer: Improve a program while it is still being developed or implemented
Formative evaluation provides ongoing feedback to program developers and implementers to improve the program during its development or operation.
CPE CPE Utilization-Focused Evaluation & Decision Making 1
Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE), developed by Michael Quinn Patton, prioritizes: