Performance Evaluation: Proven Approaches for Improving Program and Organizational Performance

OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY AND THE PURPOSE OF MEASUREMENT

All methods can include some form of measurement, and measurement should be included as often as possible in data collection. Measurement is not an automatic feature of observation. Let me clear up some common confusions with these rules:

• Every observation can be reduced to measurement.
• Rigorous measurement makes comparison more precise and meaningful.
• Not all measurements are appropriate; what you are measuring (and why) is primary.
• Pay attention to measurement scales.

The first focus of an evaluation is data relating to results. The second focus is data gathered on the process activity—how things are going—even though these data are gathered before results data are available. Process ...