10. Focus the qualitative evaluation report.
  • Determine what is essential and make that the focus of the evaluation report and other communication strategies (e.g., oral reports).
    • Focus on what will be most useful and meaningful. Even a comprehensive report will have to omit a great deal of information collected by the qualitative evaluator. Evaluators who try to include everything risk losing their readers in the sheer volume of the presentation. To enhance a report’s impact, the evaluation should address each major evaluation question clearly, that is, succinctly present the descriptive findings, analysis, and interpretation of each focused issue.
    • An evaluation report should be readable, understandable, and relatively free of academic jargon.
  • Review the evaluation findings to distinguish and serve three functions:
    • Confirm and highlight major evaluation findings supported by the qualitative data.
    • Disabuse people of misconceptions about the program.
    • Illuminate important things not previously known or understood that should be known or understood.
  • Determine the criteria by which the evaluation report will be judged based on intended users and evaluation purposes and meet those criteria to enhance the report’s credibility and utility. Alternative criteria frameworks include:
    • Traditional scientific research criteria
    • Constructivist criteria
    • Artistic and evocative criteria
    • Critical change criteria
    • Pragmatic criteria
    • Evaluation standards (See standards checklist)
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