Tips for conducting program evaluation
OCTOBER 2007 ISSUE 12
ETHICAL ISSUES
Before beginning your evaluation project, it is important to consider and address
ethical issues and professional standards.
Strategies to protect the rights and dignity of
evaluation participants should be incorporated
into the way that you design and carry out
your project. It is also important to consider
safeguards that may be needed when your
participants are children or other vulnerable
populations, including some victims of crime.
Many professional organizations provide
ethical guidelines (e.g., the American
Psychological Association, the National
Association of Social Workers, and the
American Counseling Association). While
their details vary, most guidelines address
four over-arching issues:
Help or benefit to others – promoting
others’ interests, by helping individuals,
organizations, or society as a whole.
Do no harm – bringing no harm, such as
physical injury and psychological harm
(such as damage to reputation, self-
esteem, or emotional well-being).
Act fairly – treating people fairly and
without regard to race, gender, socio-
economic status, and other characteristics.
Respect others – respecting individuals’
rights to act freely and to make their
own choices, while protecting the rights
of those who may be unable to fully
protect themselves.
Consideration of risks and benefits
Many benefits can result from evaluations.
In some cases, there may be direct benefits
to participants, such as receiving a gift
certificate or other incentive in exchange
for being interviewed. Other benefits emerge
as a result of changes made at the program
or agency level – for example, the evaluation
may guide strategies for improving a
program’s impact, leading to more positive
outcomes for current or future participants.
However, there may also be risks. You
should carefully consider any harm that may
result from an evaluation, and take steps to
reduce it. With evaluations of crime victim
services, potential risks include:
Disruptions to participants’ life (e.g.,
sacrificing time and energy to participate).
Emotional consequences (e.g., answering
painful questions about their victimization
or traumatizing events).
Safety concerns (e.g., allowing an abuser
to learn about their involvement in
services, exposing them to potential
future victimization).
Social harm (e.g., violating confidentiality,
so that others learn about their victimization
experiences).
In designing an evaluation, work to maximize
benefits and minimize risks. While you may
not eliminate risk, you should reduce it to
an acceptable level relative to the potential
Key ethical issues related to program evaluation
Risks and benefits, page 2
Page 2
ETHICAL ISSUES
benefits. Other sections of this tip sheet
address safety and confidentiality. In
addition, consider these suggestions:
Keep evaluation procedures as brief
and convenient as possible to minimize
disruptions in subjects’ lives.
Do not ask emotionally troubling
questions, unless they are necessary
to help you improve services.
Provide incentives, such as food,
money, or gift certificates.
The time and money spent on evaluation
are maximized when the results have value.
Target your evaluation to key questions,
carefully review findings, and use your
results. Upcoming tip sheets will provide
strategies for using evaluation to improve
services, demonstrate your program’s value,
and guide policy and advocacy efforts.
Informed consent
Everyone who participates in the evaluation
should do so willingly. In general, people
participating in any research project, including
an evaluation, have the right to:
Choose whether or not to participate
without penalties (e.g., participation
should not be a requirement for
receiving services).
Withdraw from the project at any time,
even if they previously gave consent.
Refuse to complete any part of the project.
The word “informed” is important – people
have the right to understand all implications
of their decision whether or not to participate.
To ensure that potential participants can
make an informed decision:
Provide them with information about
the evaluation (what you will ask them
to do, how you will you use the results,
and how long it will take).
Describe the benefits of participation
and any foreseeable risks, including
possible discomfort.
Share this information using under-
standable language – avoid jargon and
translate if needed.
Answer any questions they have about
the evaluation.
Participants may not need to sign a consent
form if they are capable adults, have not
been coerced, and will not be put at risk.
For example, if you ask clients to fill out an
anonymous survey about their satisfaction
with a shelter, the fact that they complete
the survey can be construed as providing
consent. Signed consent forms may be
necessary, however, especially if you plan to:
Include children or others who cannot
provide their own consent (in which
case you need consent from a legally
authorized person, such as a guardian).
Collect very sensitive information.
Use the results for purposes other than
program improvement, such as publication,
training, or participation in a larger
research project.
Gather information about participants
from third parties, such as program staff,
case workers, or family members.
Require significant time or effort, such
as time-consuming interviews.
Confidentiality
It is not always possible to conduct
evaluations without identifying information,
such as names. However, all evaluation
information should be kept confidential
and not shared with others. To ensure
confidentiality:
Collect data in a private location where
surveys cannot be seen and interviews
cannot be overheard.
Risks and benefits, continued:
Page 3
ISSUE 12
Do not discuss information about
individual participants with other
people, including other agency staff.
Keep completed surveys or interviews
in a secure location where they cannot
be seen by other people.
Securely dispose of completed material
when it is no longer needed.
You may face situations in which you feel
that it is important to disclose confidential
information. This may be due to a legal
requirement (e.g. a mandated reporter of
child abuse). In other cases, you may learn
through the evaluation that someone plans
to harm themselves or others, or is at risk
of harm from others. To the extent possible,
consider in advance the types of disclosures
that may be needed and develop a plan
to handle these situations. When you
obtain consent, provide information about
circumstances in which you might share
confidential information.
Ensuring safety
In conducting an evaluation, you may have
concerns for participants’ safety, especially
when working with victims of crime. Be
thoughtful about participants’ needs and
take care to protect them. For example, if
participants are not at home when you call
for an interview, consider whether it is
appropriate to leave a message. In the
course of collecting information, you may
learn that a client is in an abusive situation.
While your ability to intervene may depend
upon the level of imminent risk, it might be
appropriate for evaluation staff to refer
participants for assistance if desired.
Other considerations
Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) – if you are a
health care provider collecting information
about physical or mental health, you may
be required to comply with HIPAA, a 1996
federal law designed to protect the privacy
and security of health information. If you
are unsure whether HIPAA applies to your
evaluation, research this issue in advance to
ensure that you comply with the guidelines.
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) – An
IRB is a federally-recognized committee
authorized to review research projects
and ensure that they comply with ethical
standards. Many colleges, government
offices, hospitals, and research agencies
have established IRBs. Usually, IRB approval
is not required for evaluations. In some
cases, it may be needed, especially with
some federal funding.
There are also ethnical guidelines you
need to follow as an evaluator. The Joint
Committee on Standards for Education
Evaluation issued a series of standards in
1994 that have been widely adopted. Under
this framework, evaluators’ work should
reflect the following four standards:
Utility – Evaluations should address
important questions, provide clear and
understandable results, and include
meaningful recommendations.
Feasibility – Evaluations should be realistic
and practical, so that they can be completed
in a time- and cost-efficient manner.
Propriety – Evaluations should be legal
and ethical.
Accuracy – Information should be
collected, analyzed, reported, and
interpreted accurately and impartially.
Key ethical issues related to evaluator’s roles
For more information or additional copies, contact:
Cecilia Miller
Minnesota Office of Justice Programs
651-205-4817
Page 4
TIPS FOR CONDUCTING PROGRAM EVALUATION
Analyzing and understanding data (1/08)
Communicating evaluation results (4/08)
Using evaluation for program improvement (7/08)
Find previous tip sheets on the web: www.ojp.state.mn.us/grants/index.htm or
www.wilderresearch.org
.
In future tip sheets
For more information about HIPAA, go to http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
For more information about IRBs and research with human subjects, go to
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/
For links to other sites providing guidance on conducting ethical program evaluations, go to
http://www.cdc.gov/eval/resources.htm#ethics
Quick links to more information
October 2007
Author: Cheryl Holm-Hansen
Wilder Research
www.wilderresearch.org
In some cases, you might face situations in
which the ethical direction is not clear. Ask
yourself the following questions when
faced with an ethical challenge:
1. What does my intuition tell me? Am I
feeling stress or self-doubt about my
chosen direction?
2. Is there an established way that my
colleagues would act in the same
situation?
3. Does my profession have a set of
ethical guidelines? If so, do they
suggest a course of action?
4. Are there existing laws that apply? If
so, what requirements do I need to follow?
5. Which overarching ethical issues apply
(e.g., helping others, doing no harm,
acting fairly and being respectful)?
Does a clear solution to the challenge
emerge when considering these
principles?
6. What are my personal values and beliefs?
What guidance do they provide?
If you are unable to decide the best course
of action, consult with others, including
colleagues, supervisors, your board of
directors, evaluators or researchers, or legal
counsel.
Addressing ethical challenges
