Below are answers to frequently asked question about
reports in OERL. Also see the
user scenarios for reports as
well as answers to more general
questions about OERL.
| Question |
Answer |
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What are evaluation reports?
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For EHR projects, the evaluation report presents a
description of the project being evaluated, the
purposes of the evaluation, the evaluation design,
the analysis process, and results and interpretations.
The evaluation report specifies the key project goals,
whether they were attained, the type of evidence that
was used to document project attainments and
difficulties, and the results, including unanticipated
outcomes.
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What are the quality criteria for sound evaluation
reports?
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OERL presents examples of EHR project evaluation
reports that reflect current best
practices. Criteria for judging the quality of
evaluations and their components are based on the
Program Evaluation Standards: 2nd
Edition, which
represents consensus in the evaluation profession.
The quality criteria for
sound project evaluation reports are organized
into six sections corresponding to report components:
(1) Executive Summary, (2) Project Description, (3)
Evaluation Overview, (4) Design, (5) Analysis
Process, and (6) Results & Recommendations. See
the criteria
overview for a general introduction to the quality
criteria.
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What kinds of evaluation report resources are in
the library?
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The evaluation report materials in the library have
been gathered from actual EHR project evaluations. The
library presents both excerpts and complete evaluation
reports.
|
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What are complete reports?
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Complete evaluation reports have been selected, in
their entirety, from progress and final reports
submitted to EHR. Some evaluation reports are
embedded in larger project reports as opposed to being
prepared separately.
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What are report excerpts?
|
Excerpts are portions of reports submitted
to EHR. They have been selected from complete EHR
progress and final reports to illustrate effective and
varied ways of presenting particular report
components. Excerpts have been selected for six major
evaluation report components: (1) Executive Summary,
(2) Program Description, (3) Evaluation Overview, (4)
Design, (5) Analysis Process, and (6) Results &
Recommendations.
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|
How can the resources for evaluation reports be
used?
|
The OERL evaluation reporting resources can be used
in several ways: (1) the
alignment table,
quality criteria, and
glossary can serve as
references for project PIs and evaluators to check
that their reports include the key components of
reports, as identified by EHR; (2) material in the
complete reports and annotated excerpts can be used as
is or adapted to fit the design of a new evaluation
report; and (3) the user scenarios can be consulted for
reports.
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What is in the glossary of report components
|
The glossary of report
components presents definitions of key components
of effective project evaluation reports prepared for
EHR projects.
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What is the alignment table for report
components?
|
The alignment table
for report components describes what each report
component is (the glossary), the features that make
it sound (the quality criteria), and which standards
(based on the Program Evaluation Standards: 2nd
Edition) should be met that are aligned to
it.
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