Water Quality Project Evaluation:
A Handbook for Objectives-Based Evaluation of Water Quality Projects

Bulletin 868-98

Authors

Karen T. Ricker
Larry C. Brown
Christy F. Leeds
Robert P. Leeds
Elysabeth K. Bonar Bouton
Cara E. Volgstadt
Ohio State University Extension, 1998

Contents

• Introduction

  Due to the interactive nature of this bulletin, the remainder is available in pdf format only. The file size is 356k and may take a moment to load.

• Step One: Focusing your Evaluation
  What will be evaluated/purpose of the evaluation/who is affected or involved in the evaluation/critical questions

• Step Two: Measurable Objectives
  Audience, behavior, conditions, degree (ABCD rule)/Bennett's hierarchy/writing objectives

• Step Three: Barriers to Evaluation
  Factors that may influence evaluation/implications for evaluation

• Step Four: Methods of Data Collection
  What kind of data should be collected/what methods/writing questions/instrument construction/validity and reliability/implementing your questionnaire

• Step Five: Organizing, Analyzing, Interpreting and Reporting Results
  Tips for organizing evaluation data/quantitative data analysis/qualitative data analysis/interpreting data/reporting data

• Step Six: Developing the Evaluation Management Plan
  Organizing evaluation tasks/who should lead the evaluation/evaluation responsibilities/cost/problems to anticipate/management considerations

• Conclusion

• Further Reading

This publication was developed, published, and distributed through a cooperative effort with the following agencies and programs: The Ohio Water Quality Projects Evaluation Workshops Project; Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, Ohio State University Extension (OSU Extension), The Ohio State University; Ohio Nonpoint Source Program; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA); Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR); USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); Ohio Management Systems Evaluation Area Project (Ohio MSEA); and others.

The Ohio Water Quality Projects Evaluation Workshops Project and this publication were financed and supported, by the following: grant funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency under provisions of Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act as amended in 1987; Ohio State University Extension; Overholt Drainage Education and Research Program, Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University; and the Ohio MSEA.

The authors thank the following persons for their review of the material presented in this publication: Jill Evans (ODNR Division of Soil and Water Conservation); Jan Henderson (Department of Agricultural Education, The Ohio State University); Michael W. Smith (Ohio EPA, Nonpoint Source/Clean Lakes Unit); and H. Wes Beery (USDA NRCS/The Nature Conservancy).

This handbook is a "not-for-sale" publication, published as a one-time printing.

You may photocopy materials in this publication for non-commercial educational purposes only.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Please contact Larry C. Brown, Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, 590 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus, OH 43210-1057; Ofc: 614.292.3826; Fax: 614.292.9448; Internet: brown.59@osu.edu.

Handbook design and layout by Leslie A. Zucker, Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, OSU Extension.