Step 5: Determine the Evaluation Questions

What is this step?

This step makes the point that community-based evaluation is about facilitating relationships among people who have a stake in refugee sponsorship. We use the word "stakeholders" to describe these individuals or groups.

This step asks the question: who are these stakeholders and how do we meaningfully involve them throughout the evaluation? There are the three categories of stakeholders to consider (people with lived experience, influencers, and sustainers).

What is this step?

This step will help to develop the main evaluation questions that will guide your community-based evaluation.

Evaluation questions are linked to the evaluation purpose and are the high-level questions you want answered at the end of your evaluation (not necessarily the questions you ask evaluation participants).

Having evaluation questions that reflects the interests of all stakeholders helps you to complete a meaningful evaluation.

What do you need to do?

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Draft 3-5 open-ended questions that you want to learn about regarding your private refugee sponsorship program.

Engage the insights of your steering committee and other stakeholders to help you form these questions.

Remember to consider which part of your Logic Model (activities, outcomes, or both) you want your questions to address.

How can other SAHs help?

The evaluation questions below were developed collaboratively with SAHS across Canada.

The questions reflect the main components of the evaluation purpose and framework: process, outcomes, and future directions.

You can adapt these questions when creating your own main evaluation questions.

Examples of Main Evaluation Questions for SAHs

(1) What activities make up the private refugee sponsorship experience, and how are these activities leading to successful sponsorship experiences? (sponsorship process)

(2) To what extent are stakeholders (SAHs, sponsorship groups, system partners, and refugees) providing or experiencing accessible, quality resettlement support? (resettlement outcomes)

(3) What lasting effects has the private sponsorship experience had on stakeholders and how could this be improved? (beyond sponsorship)