Introduction to Quantitative Evaluation and learning

Remember, the point is not to ask them about you, but to ask about them. This means that you are not seeking feedback on your programs. You are not asking what they think about the programs or what they like or don’t like about your presentations. Instead, you are asking questions about what has changed in them and for them as a result of their time with you.

Use each of your outside-triangle indicators to write a question for your survey. If you have 6 or 7 indicators for an impact statement, you will have 6 or 7 questions for your survey.

If you don’t ask about change, it is a diagnostic question and not an impact question. A diagnostic question focuses on what a person knows, does, or feels, but not on what has changed in what a person knows, does, or feels. A good impact question asks about change. It will have words like more, less, increase, decrease, improved, better, and other such change words.

Since you are interested in understanding the difference your program has made, use some words or phrases of attribution. This signals that you are seeking to understand the difference that this particular intervention has made. Use phrases like because of, since, as a result, and through this program to indicate that you are asking the participant to reflect on what difference the program has made.

There might be a few demographic questions you could ask to understand how different demographics of your participants experience impact differently. Don’t overdo this. You should only include a limited number of questions. Use categories like gender, dosage, location, age, and other questions with options to differentiate the responses.

Your survey should take only a few minutes to complete if it is written well. Remember, you are using the qualitative interviews for in-depth conversation. A survey is best designed to gather data quickly and efficiently on outside-triangle indicators. Don’t add anything further to the survey than you absolutely need to ask.