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of the program such as products, services and
reports produced. Outcomes are the changes to
people and situations resulting from the activities
and indicate that the aims of the program have
been achieved. Documentation of these outcomes
provides evidence of the success of the program.
Outcomes can be written as short term, medium
term and longer term. It is not possible here to
address issues in developing program logic models
but substantial online resources are available from
such organizations as the United Way, Kellogg
Foundation as well as print material (Frechtling
2007; Wholey, Hatry & Newcomer 2004).
Although the logic model is a clearly struc-
tured approach, its development is a dynamic and
iterative process that requires involvement of all
staff and takes place over time. McLaughlin and
Jordan (2004, p.15) suggest that managers regard
the logic model as a process that involves both
program participants and other stakeholders as-
sociated with the model's implementation.Above
all logic modeling is part of long term cultural
change. Understanding the program logic model is
fundamental in demonstrating outcome measures
to funders, preparation of grant application and
using data in other forms of inquiry.
The program logic model provides a structure
for demonstrating outcomes to funders, a frame-
work for funding applications, and a series of
questions for formative and summative program
evaluation. As a theory of change is embedded
in the logic model, the model with associated
outcomes allow for testing of the effectiveness of
the change strategy. The particular value of the
program logic model lies in program evaluation,
a process that includes:
•
Analysis of data
•
Provision of information to interested au-
diences (Frechtling 2007, p.127).
WHat are tHe exploratory
queStionS about
our programS?
This is something that practitioners and ad-
ministrators do every day although they may
not describe this as an investigative, analytical
and/or interpretative process. Questions about
practice emerge because practitioners and ad-
ministrators have hypotheses about practice and
want confirmation of their intuition. There are
many questions that practitioners and manage-
ment may ask on a day to day basis. Generally,
the software program enables practitioners and
administrators to use data collected to provide
the answers. Listed below are examples of the
questions that may be asked.
Questions about services to clients
•
How long is our waiting list?
•
How quickly do we respond to urgent
cases?
How many hours of service do we provide
•
per client?
What is the demographic profile of our cli-
•
ent group?
What
•
is
the
diversity
of
our
client
populations?
How many cases of elder or child abuse
•
have we received?
What sorts of complaints do we receive
•
from clients about our services?
How many clients return for further
•
•
Development of a conceptual model of the
assistance?
What are the most common problems ex-
program and identification of key evalua-
tion points
Development of evaluation questions and
•
perienced by our clients?
What are the health and social risk factors
•
•
definition of measurable outcomes
Development of an evaluation design
of our clients?
What sort of health and mental health prob-
•
•
•
Collection of data
lems go together?
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