Evaluation Purpose
The
Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook lists three purposes for
evaluation*:
- Gain insight (i.e., assess level of interest, identify barriers and
facilitators): If you've completed phase 2 of social marketing, you've
already done this. This type of evaluation is also called formative
evaluation or formative research.
- Improve a program (i.e., process evaluation). This type of evaluation
lets you monitor the implementation of a program, enhance programs based on
feedback, and understand how and why something happened. You would plan a
process evaluation during phase 5 of the social marketing planning process.
- Assess program efforts (i.e., impact evaluation, outcome evaluation, or
summative evaluation). This type of evaluation would determine how well you
are meeting your objectives and provide lessons learned for future
programming. Phase 5 is the time to plan for an outcome evaluation.
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