Wednesday, January 18, 2017
My name is
Dr. Moya Alfonso, MSPH, and I’m an Associate Professor at the
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at
Georgia Southern University, and I am University Sector Representative and Board Member for the
Southeast Evaluation Association (SEA). I would like to offer you a few tips on engaging stakeholders in participatory evaluation based on my 16 years of experience engaging stakeholders in community health research and evaluation.
Participatory evaluation is an approach that engages stakeholders in each step of the process. Rather than the trained evaluator solely directing the evaluation, participatory evaluation requires a collaborative approach. Evaluators work alongside stakeholders in developing research questions, deciding upon an evaluation design, designing instruments, selecting methods, gathering and analyzing data, and disseminating results. Participatory evaluation results in stronger evaluation designs and greater external validity because community members have a high level of input in entire process. It also strengthens buy-in to the results and a greater use of the evaluation products.
Rad Resource: Explore the
University of Kansas Community Tool Box for introductory information on participatory evaluation.
Hot Tips: Here are a few tips for engaging stakeholders:
- Establish a diverse stakeholder advisory group: Community stakeholders have a range of skills that can contribute to the evaluation process. For example, I worked with 8th grade youth on a participatory research project and assumed that I would need to conduct the statistical analysis of survey data. To my surprise, one of the youths had considerable expertise and was able to conduct the analysis with little assistance. With training and support, community stakeholders can contribute and exceed your expectations.
- Keep stakeholders busy: A common problem in working with advisory groups is attrition. Keep community stakeholders engaged with evaluation tasks that use their unique skill sets. Matching assignments to existing skill sets empower community stakeholders and result in increased buy-in and engagement.
- Celebrate successes: Celebrating successes over the course of the evaluation is a proven strategy for keeping stakeholders engaged. Rather than waiting until the end of the evaluation, reward stakeholders regularly for the completion of evaluation steps.
- Keep your ego in check: Some highly trained evaluators might find handing over the reins to community stakeholders challenging because they’re used to running the show. Participatory evaluation requires evaluators to share control and collaborate with community stakeholders. Try to keep an open mind and trust in the abilities of community stakeholders to participate in the evaluation process with your support and guidance. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when stakeholders are fully engaged in evaluation research!
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Southeast Evaluation Association (SEA) Affiliate Week with our colleagues in the SEA Affiliate. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from SEA Affiliate members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.