ABSTRACT
Program evaluation is the application of empirical social science research methods to the process of judging the effectiveness of public policies, programs, or projects, as well as their management and implementation, for decision-making purposes. The substantive focus of the program evaluation, some evaluations center on the implementation of programs, while other evaluations focus on the outputs or outcomes of programs. The two classes of methodological evaluations and the two classes of substantive lenses can be cross-classified as four basic types of program evaluations, as shown in. Using causal methods and focusing on program outputs and outcomes, the third type of program evaluations estimates the impacts of public programs. The general assumption was that government programs did work; the purpose of program evaluation was to show how well government programs worked and how they could be improved. Decide whether the evaluation is a descriptive or causal evaluation, and whether it focuses on program implementation, program output and outcome, or both.
