 Designing
the Data Collection Process
3.2 Seek out
data sources
Data assessment
It is helpful to prepare a plan showing
the process of evaluation and means of data collection
to determine
what you have and what you need. (See
R5 & R6 in
Appendix  )
Assess potential data in terms of:
Usefulness |
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What information will be provided? |
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How will the data be used to answer an evaluation
question? |
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Can the data be used to corroborate or strengthen
data from other sources or fill gaps? |
Ease of collection |
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What do you have to do to get the data? |
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Is the data in a form that makes it easy to extract
the necessary information? |
Cost |
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Is there a cost for obtaining, handling or transforming
data? |
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e.g., amalgamating records from multiple sites,
photocopying, electronic data entry, programming?
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Sensitivity |
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Will permission be needed to obtain data or safeguards
be needed for use by volunteers/staff? |
Credibility |
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Is the data accurate and seen as credible by others,
especially stakeholders? |
Usefulness of data
Consider what can be
learned from existing program records:
- attendance records of participants recorded by individual
name provide:
- overall
sustained participation rates,
- consistency and duration of attendance,
- data that
should be associated with levels of effectiveness.
- registration records provide
- demographic information for comparison purposes
and targetting
- contact
information for follow up.
- intake interviews provide
- baseline information about extent
of knowledge, achievement prior to program
participation for comparison with post-test.
- intake questionnaires asking why participant joined
or how they learned about
the program can provide data for comparison with non-participants.
- attendance records correlated with data about
age and gender
- can show overall
patterns among sessions and multiple
sites about age groups attracted
or not attracted to the program
Need examples?
Examples of ongoing or periodic record-keeping
- attendance records by full name
- checklists of participation in activities
- checklists, badges, tests, lists of program achievement
, e.g., skill levels
- volunteer notes from observations, with systematic
categories, e.g., social skills, “following
instructions”, “volunteering
assistance”, “conflicts with peers”
- tutors’ workbooks,
logs
- notes
of regular volunteer/staff meetings to
discuss observations
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