| Session Title: An Evaluation Framework for Building Program Theory on the Basis of Empirical Evidence: An Illustration of Changing Health Behavior in Nicaragua |
| Expert Lecture Session 336 to be held in Panzacola Section G2 on Thursday, Nov 12, 3:35 PM to 4:20 PM |
| Sponsored by the Program Theory and Theory-driven Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Gretchen Jordan, Sandia National Laboratories, gbjorda@sandia.gov |
| Presenter(s): |
| Jerald Hage, University of Maryland, jerryhage@yahoo.com |
| Abstract: The objective is to present a framework for building knowledge about the success of alternative programs for changing human behavior that can be applied in many different kinds of national contexts. The specific focus is on health behavior and the programs in the framework are communication, physical capital investments, human capital investments, and social capital investments. The focus is on how much the quantity of each of these programs changes the behavior of women who are pregnant or have young children. In addition, there is a framework for evaluating the relative effectiveness of single organizational interventions vs. a network of organizations on the basis of amount of learning, the quantity of shared resources and the extent of social mobilization. Collecting the data requires a standardized methodology that includes concrete measures of health behavior and knowledge and a simple sampling system, which is discussed and illustrated with data analysis. |