Preparing the Groundwork
for Evaluation

1.5 Include ethics and respect for individuals

Ethical Concerns

Informed consent

The principle of informed consent implies that parents understand their or their children’s role in an evaluation:

• that activities will be observed or
• that they will be asked to complete questionnaires on certain topics

Similarly, other informants should be informed on the general nature of the evaluation, asked for cooperation and treated respectfully. Participants or other informants may be reluctant to provide personal information (or have you ask children for it.) Staff may feel discomfort at having to collect some types of personal information. (See Step 5)

Unbiased data

Informed consent may seem at odds with unbiased data.

Informants may be reluctant to voice any criticism of programs if they think:

• negative information will be linked to their children, with negative repercussions
• don’t have confidence in personnel
• don’t understand how data will be used
• valued programs may be jeopardized

Raised expectations

Be aware of what an evaluation can change. Volunteers, participants and families may respond enthusiastically toward an evaluation, particularly if there is a therapeutic or service element to the program, but have unrealistically high expectations of results. They may expect some follow up to improve their lives or situation or program expansion, which leads to disappointment in the program when it does not materialize.

Ethical policies

• Plan data collection carefully to obtain meaningful data and avoid potential problems (see Step 4)
• Plan clear, open communication and develop relationships of trust with staff and sources of data
• Obtain informed consent from families to obtain necessary data
• Plan safeguards to assure privacy and confidentiality of information (See Step 5)
• Ensure staff is aware how releasing information, personal stories, pictures, data for publicity might affect participants’ lives. Parents may not be aware of potential risks.