Evaluation Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evaluation Research - Essay Example An examination of these types would lead to a better understanding of the overall importance of evaluation research as well as the impact it has on the implementation of various government programs. The first type of evaluation research is one which evaluates a process. For example, in the health industry the process by which a person gets admitted to a hospital in a given location could be evaluated through research, case studies, interviews and then policy makers could be given advice as to how the process can be improved (ACT Health Promotion, 2002). The satisfaction level of the people using the services provided concerning their health, as well as the reach of a program connected with public health improvement could both be evaluated through process evaluation to give public officials a better picture of how successful or unsuccessful a policy is. Evaluation research can be carried out by both public and private organizations as the focus of the research is to try and improve the processes involved in the health services industry. The next level of evaluation research focuses on the impact which a certain policy or a certain mandate has on the delivery of services (Kann et. al. 1995). In the context of health services, suppose a policy was created by which only doctors who had been trained in Australia were allowed to practice medicine and any doctor or nurse who had a foreign qualification was simply barred from working in Australia. The impact of such a policy could be quite severe and could even be negative as Australian doctors could be barred from practicing elsewhere in the world. Other policies, such as making sure that the ambulance which carries a person to the hospital for emergency treatment would also carry them back may have a positive or negative impact and these can only be determined through evaluation research which looks at the real impact of a policy. Impact evaluation often