Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.
This question comes from Larissa, a graduate student in Arizona. Larissa write:
Hi Nicole,
I’m a graduate student currently taking a class about research and evaluation. I also just finished a course in evaluations within education and training.
My first assignment is to distinguish between evaluation and research and I must say that your post [“Ask Nicole: What’s the Difference Between Research and Evaluation?”] has given me the clearest examples of the difference. Thank you for that!
My question to you is can you please elaborate on when circumstances are more appropriate for research than evaluation? Having more of an evaluation background now, I tend to lean towards evaluation first. Is it just that research should be done before evaluation?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
In “Ask Nicole: What’s the Difference Between Research and Evaluation?“, I explained that how research and evaluation are both data collection and analysis tools. While research focuses on gaining or contributing new knowledge on a topic based on previous theories, evaluation is used to understand the effectiveness of a program for decision-making.
To answer Larissa’s question of whether research should be done before an evaluation, the answer is: It depends on the context (which is a very evaluator response.)
If you’re like Larissa, it’s understandable to lean towards evaluation before research. However, to determine which one to start with, ask yourself how much do you know about the topic and clarify if your intended goal is to build on existing knowledge OR if the goal is to understand effectiveness that contributes to decision-making.
If you don’t have enough information, I recommend starting with research. For example, for some evaluation projects, I start by conducting a literature review to gather information on a program topic before developing an evaluation strategy. This is important if I’m not well versed in the topic and/or if I wanted to determine a best practice for evaluating a program based on the topic. In this case, research was helpful in determining how to move forward with an evaluation.
From a program design perspective, organizations may use research data to understand current needs before designing a program (which consists of activities, outreach, length of program, topics to cover, and the program implementation strategy.) If the program isn’t new but emerging data that may impact the effectiveness of the program, conducting research to explore new data based on the evaluation’s findings can also be applied to discover the extent of the emerging data on the program.
From an evaluation perspective, an evaluator may use research data to determine current best practices for program evaluation based on the topic, including how to design the evaluation tools.
From a funding perspective, organizations may use research data as justification for a funding request for a new program they recently created.
To give a definitive answer to Larrisa’s question, to determine whether research is needed before an evaluation, you need to 1) get clear on why the data is being used and 2) determine if you have enough information to move forward. If you don’t have enough data, then research can be considered first.
Raise Your Voice: How do you determine if research is needed before an evaluation? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
Was this useful? Subscribe to the Raise Your Voice newsletter, and explore my consulting services.
