The Importance Of Evaluation Research

Evaluation research is a new element of scientific research which is a guide for conducting and gathering evidence research (Monette, Sullivan & DeJong, 2011). This paper will explain evaluation research and its importance. Also, this paper will describe two types of evaluation research along with providing examples of each using two journal articles and give one example of the following topics: formative research, proximal goal and the long-term goal of our research proposal.

Describe research evaluation and explain why it is important Evaluation research is the use of scientific research methods to plan intervention programs to determine how effective programs are or clinical practices achieve their goals, and to monitor the implementations

Both types of research gather information that fits their needs and involves a synthesis of information, and inquiry. They both focus on the cause and effect relationships. Formative research poses questions that come from planning, putting into practice, and function. Data is gathered from the target group, the group 's characteristics, problems, locations, community, potentiality, and other demographic information. When using formative evaluation, it is necessary to ensure there isn 't duplication of services. Intervention strategies should be known and how they apply to the current problems. The facilitators need to specify and identify the skills of the staff to be used to address the program. A needs assessment is used to collect data, assess service level, and determines what personnel already is available to deliver services. An example in article selected by Golas, Horm, and Caruso, 2006 used formative research to compare (not a direct comparison, but by non-treated controls) home-based and center-based head starts programs. The formative research was a multi-method approach with a purpose of looking into issues of implementation to the two service delivery

Results of this research evaluation are primarily used for policy-making, personnel allocation, resource allocation, and large scale projects. It is concerned with program effectiveness and outcomes. There are stakeholders who may have an interest on how the program operates and politics tends to play a significant role in summative evaluation. Summative evaluation uses an evaluation assessment to help investigators determine if a program has the necessary qualifications. During the assessment, there has to be clear goals, follow and gather information on the program, monitor the program, develop logical flows for the program, and review the program to determine what aspects are working and what are not working with the program. An example of summative evaluation research used for this paper was a two-year grant funded program that was an employee assistance program that serves people with disabilities (Anema Jr, & Sligar, 2010). Data was collected by department reports, employee surveys, and a focus group that consisted of administrative stakeholders. The summative evaluation listed five outcome goals which were to increase 24 full-time positions, increase weekly wage, attain job retention rate, provide voluntary self-motivated training, and get feedback from employees regarding the