Question

Provide two to three examples of common problems that are associated with conducting an evaluation. With this in mind, how will you address these particular issues when conducting an evaluation in the health field in general?

Answer 1

Challenges faced while conducting an evaluation:

1. Poor Planning: Planning is the first step in the process. It gives a picture of the goals, activities and outcomes of the evaluation. Poor planning can cause many issues including waste of time, lack of direction, not enough funding resources and adherence. Therefore it is necessary to have a complete plan in hand before conducting an evaluation.

2. Lack of data: Data collection is also an important element of evaluation. Designing survey questions that are short and easy to answer can give an organized and uniform data quality. However, too much data can also lead to inconsistent information.             

3. Ineffective Approaches: Use the right data collection methods to have a thorough understanding of the data and to choose the right evaluator.

4. Financial Constraints: A prior planning of the funds and resources can be helpful to avoid financial constraints.

Addressing these issues.

• Always have clearly defined goals, activities, outputs for effective outcomes and easy monitoring.
• Identify the stakeholders and understand their requirement and expectations to develop questionnaire or data collection tool which can help you collect the maximum required data for the evaluation.
• Evaluations are time consuming and expensive. Identify your resources or funds. Make sure to have sufficient funds before you start the evaluation, to avoid interference and discontinuation. Make use of local staffs and students to prepare the questionnaire.
• Review your findings with the stakeholders to identify any concerns and incorporate the results.