Evaluation designs for adequacy, plausibility and probability of public health programme performance and impact.
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
It is argued that the answer to this question is essential for choosing an appropriate evaluation design, drawing upon examples from the fields of health and nutrition, and a framework is proposed for deciding upon appropriate evaluation designs.Abstract:
The question of why to evaluate a programme is seldom discussed in the literature. The present paper argues that the answer to this question is essential for choosing an appropriate evaluation design. The discussion is centered on summative evaluations of large-scale programme effectiveness, drawing upon examples from the fields of health and nutrition but the findings may be applicable to other subject areas. The main objective of an evaluation is to influence decisions. How complex and precise the evaluation must be depends on who the decision maker is and on what types of decisions will be taken as a consequence of the findings. Different decision makers demand not only different types of information but also vary in their requirements of how informative and precise the findings must be. Both complex and simple evaluations, however, should be equally rigorous in relating the design to the decisions. Based on the types of decisions that may be taken, a framework is proposed for deciding upon appropriate evaluation designs. Its first axis concerns the indicators of interest, whether these refer to provision or utilization of services, coverage or impact measures. The second axis refers to the type of inference to be made, whether this is a statement of adequacy, plausibility or probability. In addition to the above framework, other factors affect the choice of an evaluation design, including the efficacy of the intervention, the field of knowledge, timing and costs. Regarding the latter, decision makers should be made aware that evaluation costs increase rapidly with complexity so that often a compromise must be reached. Examples are given of how to use the two classification axes, as well as these additional factors, for helping decision makers and evaluators translate the need for evaluation--the why--into the appropriate design--the how.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal Article
Quasi-experimentation - design and analysis issues for field settings - cook,td, campbell,dt
Book
Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients
TL;DR: Food fortification has the dual advantage of being able to deliver nutrients to large segments of the population without requiring radical changes in food consumption patterns.
Journal Article
International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG) technical document #1. Assessment of the risk of zinc deficiency in populations and options for its control.
Kenneth H. Brown,Juan A Rivera,Zulfiqar A. Bhutta,Rosalind S Gibson,Janet C King,Bo Lönnerdal,Marie T. Ruel,Brittmarie Sandtröm,Emorn Wasantwisut,Christine Hotz +9 more
TL;DR: This chapter discusses zinc Nutrition, which focuses on dietary requirements and recommended intakes for zinc, and causes of zinc deficiency and groups at high risk.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evidence-Based Public Health: Moving Beyond Randomized Trials
TL;DR: There is an urgent need to develop evaluation standards and protocols for use in circumstances where RCTs are not appropriate, and both the internal and external validity of RCT findings can be greatly enhanced by observational studies using adequacy or plausibility designs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effect of a structural intervention for the prevention of intimate-partner violence and HIV in rural South Africa: a cluster randomised trial
Paul Pronyk,Paul Pronyk,James R Hargreaves,James R Hargreaves,Julia C. Kim,Julia C. Kim,Linda Morison,Godfrey Phetla,Charlotte Watts,Joanna Busza,John Porter +10 more
TL;DR: A combined microfinance and training intervention can lead to reductions in levels of intimate-partner violence in programme participants, and social and economic development interventions have the potential to alter risk environments for HIV and intimacy violence in southern Africa.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Impact of vitamin A supplementation on childhood mortality. A randomised controlled community trial.
Alfred Sommer,Alfred Sommer,Edi Djunaedi,Edi Djunaedi,A. A. Loeden,A. A. Loeden,Ignatius Tarwotjo,Ignatius Tarwotjo,Keith P. West,Keith P. West,Robert Tilden,Robert Tilden,Lisa Mele,Lisa Mele +13 more
TL;DR: The results support earlier observations linking mild vitamin A deficiency to increased mortality and suggest that supplements given to vitamin A deficient populations may decrease mortality by as much as 34%.
Journal ArticleDOI
Issues in the design and interpretation of studies to evaluate the impact of community-based interventions
TL;DR: The issues arising in the extension of the randomized double‐blind controlled trial methodology to the evaluation of interventions delivered to clusters of individuals, or to whole communities, where the unit of randomization is a cluster of individuals rather than an individual are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Vitamin A supplementation and child mortality.
Journal ArticleDOI
Falling diarrhoea mortality in Northeastern Brazil: did ORT play a role ?
TL;DR: An ecological analysis showed that ORT use rates were inversely correlated to infant diarrhoea mortality, and these findings suggest an important impact of ORT on diarrhoeA mortality.