How do you plan to evaluate the public health program you planned? Survey instruments, including questionnaires, observations, interviews, and focus groups, are a few instruments, or tools, that can be used to collect data. Selecting a particular instrument must take careful consideration. An instrument must be appropriate for the age, reading level, language, and culture of the program participants. If the instrument is quantitative (characterized by numbers), it must be reliable (measure what it is intended to measure) and valid (measure the same way each time it is used). If the instrument is qualitative (characterized by words), it must elicit important and detailed information about the participants’ experience with the program.

For this part of your Course Project, you examine surveys as data collection instruments and select the most appropriate type of survey for your program evaluation plan. In addition, you identify appropriate sample populations for your public health program.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Review the CDC’s Framework for Program Evaluation. Reflect on the steps and standards related to gathering evidence.
• Identify a sample population that would accurately represent the target population of your public health program.
• Refer back to the objectives and goals you selected last week and consider the type of survey instrument you would need in order to collect the appropriate data from your sample population. Think about survey details such as the following: reading level, language, cultural appropriateness, type of data it measures, and psychometric qualities of the survey instrument (refer to the McKenzie et al. text, as well as the article “Data Collection Methods for Program Evaluation: Questionnaires”).
• Research surveys using the options given in the Learning Resources or another reputable Internet source. Select a survey instrument for measuring your selected objectives based on the necessary details that you identified.
• Review the Course Project Guidelines (located in the Learning Resources).

The Assignment (1½ –2 pages):

• Describe the sample population for your public health program
• Describe one instrument you have identified for measuring your selected outcome objectives
  • Survey instruments can be researched at the survey websites found in the Learning Resources as well as other credible health-related websites
• Explain the level of measurement, including reading level, language, cultural appropriateness, type of data it intends to measure, and the psychometric qualities of the data collection method (or how you would determine those qualities)
• Explain why this collection procedure is appropriate for your sample population