Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

SIX KEYS TO EVALUATING EXTENSION WORK

1. Statement of objectives
• State the objectives of an activity to be evaluated in terms of behaviour changes in the people who are to do the learning.
• e.g. Dairy farmers to learn full hand milking of cow
2. Source of evidence
• Only those people whom you try to reach can provide proof of success or failure.
• e.g. Those dairy farmers who attended the full hand milking demonstration
3. Representative sample
• Those persons who actually provide the evidence of success must be representative of all whom you tried to approach.
• e.g. Every 'n' th name from the list of dairy farmers  who attended the full hand milking demonstration meeting.
4. Appropriate methods
• The methods of obtaining evidence must be appropriate to the kinds of information being collected.
• e.g. Recorded observation of the dairy farmers on how he milk his cow before and after the full hand milking demonstration. 
5. Reliable questions
• Word questions carefully so as to obtain reliable, unbiased data
• e.g. When asking questions about a field visit during a dairy training programme; Did you see any new methods of feeding dairy animals?
6. Plan to use results
• Decide how you will analyse and use your evaluation results before evaluation is done.
• Is the percentage of adoption of a practice high, low, expected or unexpected?
• What the extension programme have done or not done to make it high, or keep it so low?
• What other factors are related to it?
• How should the extension methods or programmes be changed to bring about a different kind or different amount of change?