Fundamental aspects of Program Evaluation and its difference between Essay

Fundamental aspects of Program Evaluation and its difference between pure research - Essay Example offer that view that the major purpose of evaluation is â€Å"to judge the merit or worth of the total program being evaluated, as well as the individual elements of that program." (Billings and Halstead, 2005, p. 543-544). On this basis, they state that the elements comprising program evaluation include weighing and interpreting data that is collected from multiple components of the program and then making judgments about the data that has been collected. When an effective evaluation process is carried out, then the people staffing the evaluation program document the impact that a program has on its participants, as well as the institutions that are participating in the program. According to Patton, program evaluation is the collection of information about the â€Å"activities, characteristics and outcomes of programs†, so that (a) it can form the basis upon which judgments are made about the program (b) the information and measures collected can be used to improve its effectiveness and (c) decisions about the future of the program can also be made (Patton, 1997, p 23). On this basis, it may be seen that program evaluation does not merely involve an assessment of how successfully a program achieves its goals. It also takes into account the manner in which the program is being implemented and the proceses being used to achieve this. Additionally, the program evaluation process must also introduce measures to deal with unexpected consequences and assess the potential long term implications of the program being evaluated (Patton, 1997, p 23). This is a particularly important aspect in program evaluation because the efficacy of a particular program will determine whether or not Government funding for that program will be continued. In the case of educational programs, learning is a critical component of program evaluation and is the main determining factor on how effective the program is. Therefore, the process of program evaluation must also pay close attention to