Health Program and Evaluation: Factors to Consider in Selecting a Design

Health Program and Evaluation
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Health Program and Evaluation
Factors to Consider in Selecting a Design
The selection of an appropriate research design is dependent on several factors. The first factor to consider is the type of questions one wants to answer through the evaluation (University of Kansas, 2018). Different evaluation designs will provide different answers, and to get the best answers with clarity, one has to select an appropriate design. Some designs, such as the pre-post design, only examine whether a change occurred, while others investigate whether a change occurred and, if so, was it a result of the program or other external factors (University of Kansas, 2018)? The second factor to consider is the nature of the program (University of Kansas, 2018). Some programs are time-bound, and it is good to select a design that will provide the correct answers within the given time frame. Also, concerning the nature of the program, the design should be chosen in consideration of whether participants are handled as a group or individually. The third factor to consider is the willingness of the participants and staff to participate in the program (University of Kansas, 2018). The program cannot bear results if these two key stakeholders are not cooperative. They might have concerns about the program, and if left unaddressed, these concerns will act as a barrier. The design should accommodate or address the problems. For instance, if the participants are concerned about privacy, a design that protects their privacy should be selected. The fourth factor is the availability of resources. Other than time, resources such as funds, personnel, equipment, among others, should be considered while selecting a design (University of Kansas, 2018). There is no need to choose a design that will make it impossible to work with the available resources to accomplish the program's goals.
Internal and External Validity
Validity is an essential aspect of research. It refers to the extent to which research methods measure what they are meant to measure (Peersman, 2014) and the extent to which the results from the participants in the study group represent the actual findings from other individuals with similar characteristics beyond the study group (Patino & Ferreira, 2018). Validity is classified as internal and external. Internal validity is the degree to which the observed changes can be accurately considered to be the result of the changes in the independent variable (Patino & Ferreira, 2018). It assesses whether the results can be trusted as an accurate representation of the population rather than other factors beyond the researcher's control. When there is internal validity, it means that there is evidence to show that the design reflects what is observed in the real world. In...