Step 1. Decide if you want to focus on quantitative measures, qualitative measures, or both
Quantitative measures produce numbers, like counts and percentages. Quantitative measures in this toolkit are designed to be collected via surveys.
Qualitative measures produce narratives, like stories and quotes. Qualitative measures in this toolkit are designed to be collected via interviews or focus groups.
Step 2. Select constructs you want to measure
The theory of change (TOC) includes several constructs related to intermediate outcomes, longer-term outcomes, and process measures (i.e., activities). To start, select the constructs that are relevant to your specific intervention, population, and setting.
As a reminder, the TOC can be thought of like a recipe that outlines the current situation, intervention (actions taken to change the current situation), and desired outcomes (results of actions taken to change the current situation). Intermediate outcomes and longer-term outcomes are desired outcomes, and process measures capture actions taken to change the current situation.
Tip: It is important to focus on measuring the outcomes that your intervention is designed to change. Measures that your intervention aren’t designed to change but that provide information about the needs and context of your service population can also be helpful, but they should be interpreted accordingly.
Step 3. Browse and select measures for the constructs you want to measure
You can select measures for all constructs or all measures for specific constructs by using the “Select All” buttons. Alternatively, you can select individual measures for specific constructs. Note that as you select quantitative measures, survey response options for those measures will appear.
The toolkit includes many measurement options, and some questions (and question wording) are similar to each other. The purpose of this is to provide options and flexibility for users to select measures they prefer and that are most relevant to their work. Keep in mind that you can continue tailoring and refining questions (e.g., changing wording, adding or removing response options) once you download your custom document (see step 4).
Step 4. Download survey
Once you have finished selecting measures, click “Download Survey (.docx)” at the bottom of the screen. This will generate a .docx file (Microsoft Word document) with the measures you selected, organized into Quantitative and Qualitative sections.
You can then continue editing the questions to ensure they are appropriate for your specific intervention, population, and setting.
Additional note: If you selected any measures for the construct “Staff resources/capacity, well-being, competency, work quality” under intermediate outcomes, a separate “Staff” document will download. This is to ensure that questions for CVI participants/clients are clearly separated from questions for CVI staff.
Step 5. Collect data
Using your finalized measures, begin collecting data!
Quantitative survey data can be collected in various ways, including via several free online platforms. Qualitative interview and focus group data can be collected by recording and transcribing conversations or taking detailed notes of conversations.
If you are going to collect data (particularly surveys) from the same individuals repeatedly over time — which is essential to measure change and growth — you will also need to collect individual identifiers (such as a unique person ID number or name).
Tip: If you collect data for internal learning or program evaluation (not for research), be sure to follow good practices, like providing informed consent. If you intend to collect data for research, you will need to follow these good practices and also obtain formal approval from an Institutional Review Board. You can find definitions of “Research” here.