The WECT program arbitrarily divided the WECT program into four parts. Those “modules” are:
- Program Planning and Logic Modeling;
- Program Implementation, Monitoring, and Delivery;
- Data Management and Analysis (divided into Qualitative data and Quantitative data); and
- Program Evaluation Utilization
I’ve talked about Program Planning and Logic Modeling. So now what? What does the evaluator do next? I think that the evaluator needs to think about and plan for program implementation, monitoring and delivery of the intervention. In other words, “HOW” are you going to do the program that you have planned and modeled?
When dividing the study of evaluation into parts, the next part is program implementation,
monitoring 
and delivery
. Mary Arnold, 4H Extension Specialist did a wonderful job of discussing this topic. Having developed a logic model that identifies who, what, and why, now is the time to see if the program works, or the “how”. This part, the “how” reminds me of the simple evaluation model I used when I first started in the field. That model had three parts: process, progress, and product. The “how” covers the process and progress or the implementation, the monitoring , and the delivery. It is the methods (methodology) of the program.
Before I give you the list of blogs that relate to methods (you know, survey, focus groups, demographics, etc), I thought I’d go back to my favorite thesaurus for clarity.
(Thank you, Michael Scriven
, for providing such a valuable resource.)
So what does the Evaluation Thesaurus say about these topics?
Implementation: The degree to which a program (or treatment) has been instantiated in a particular situation, typically in a field trial of the treatment or an evaluation of it. Ralph Tyler (1934) and Lou Smith (????) had important contributions to make to implementation. There is more. (page 190-191)
Monitoring: Usually a representative of the funding agency who watches for the proper use of funds, observes progress, provides information to the agency about the project and vice versa. There is more. (page 235)
Delivery (system): The link between a product or service and the immediate consumer (the recipient population)–which may or may not consist of those that need or want it. There is more. (page 120)
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about implementation, monitoring, and delivery. I have realized that I do not have tags for these topics. And in talking with my supervisor, yesterday, I also realized that I conceptualize the “implementation, monitoring, and delivery” phase under the category of “methodology”. So I will add the tags and talk about methodology/methods in my next post.
my 
molly.
