Goals

From EvaluationWiki

The intended outcomes (sometimes intended processes) of an intervention or other program or organization. Important in planning, and one framework in terms of which evaluation can be done-by treating evaluation as the investigation of the extent to which goals are or were met. This used to be the only frame for program evaluation-it's called goal-achievement evaluation-but see also goal-free evaluation (GFE). A less radical alternative to GFE is simply to add half a dozen extra components to checking on whether goals were met, and to what extent. These should include: (i) the nature and extent of side-effects; (ii) the available alternatives to the program; (iii) the cost of the program; (iv) the legitimacy/desirability of the means adopted to get to the goals; (v) the merit of the goals; (vi) the extent to which the solution found can be used elsewhere. This provides a concise summary of what is called 'goal-based evaluation' and arguably represents the minimum one should expect from competent program evaluators.