What is the role of program theory and its value in evaluation research?
What will be an ideal response?
If an investigation of program process is conducted, a program theory may be developed. A program theory describes what has been learned about how the program has its effect. When a researcher has sufficient knowledge before the investigation begins, outlining a program theory can help to guide the investigation of program process in the most productive directions. This is termed a theory-driven evaluation.
Program theory is a descriptive or prescriptive model of how a program operates and produces its effects.
Theory-driven evaluation is a program evaluation that is guided by a theory that specifies the process by which the program has an effect.
A program theory specifies how the program is expected to operate and identifies which program elements are operational (Chen, 1990). In addition, a program theory specifies how a program is to produce its effects and so improves understanding of the relationship between the independent variable (the program) and the dependent variable (the outcome or outcomes).
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Indicate whether the statement is true or false
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Fill in the blank(s) with correct word