Reporting on Evaluation: Communicating to Audiences

Summary

Because evaluation aims both to understand a program and to provide a judgement on it, the findings need to communicate clearly to the audience or audiences who will receive the report and, it is hoped, act on it. This communication can be done orally or in written form. Oral communication is less formal than a written report; it can be used at a formative stage, to provide two-way feedback throughout the evaluation, or to supplement a final report. When negative findings need to be communicated, this feedback is best done orally before being committed to writing.

There are many other forms of expression that can be used in addition to or in preference to the written report, including posters, poetry and drama, which may be particularly appropriate where the aim is empowerment and emancipatory evaluation through stakeholder action.

The main form of communication, however, is the written report. This chapter is designed to help make written communication effective by explaining how a well-written and clearly presented report can be produced. Many of the ideas on content, style and presentation can be applied to any social research report. However, evaluation reporting differs in a crucial way. The evaluation report is envisaged not simply as an end product, but also as an input to a further stage of decision-making or policy formulation, so issues of dissemination must be considered.

Evaluation is designed to be used, and the evaluator has to have in mind how to produce a usable report for the various audiences. The quality of the report is not the sole determinant of whether a study has impact or not, so a deliberate dissemination strategy may encourage wider reception of the findings.