pink-book

10. Thank participants for their cooperation.
If you have incentives or token gifts,
distribute them to participants as they
leave. If you have provided a donation to
a group in lieu of payment to
participants, mention that you hope the
group will find the donation helpful.
Analyze the Pretest
Analyze the questionnaires in two steps.
First, tabulate or count how many
participants gave each possible response
to each question. Next, look for patterns in
the responses to both closed- and openended
questions. The patterns will help you
draw conclusions about the effectiveness of
your message. See Appendix A for detailed
instructions on tabulating closed- and
open-ended questions and for a table of
average ratings to help interpret standard
question responses.
At this point, look at the overall results:
• What did you learn from the pretest
• Did your message receive a favorable and
appropriate intended audience reaction
• Did your message fulfill its
communication objectives
• What are your message’s strengths
Weaknesses
• Did answers to any particular question
stand out
Use your answers to these questions to
decide whether your message is both
effective and appropriate and whether you
need to revise your message prior to
program implementation.
Diaries and Activity Logs
Other tools you can use to evaluate your
program are diaries and activity logs. If you
plan to use these tools to gauge the quality
of program planning or execution, be sure to
start keeping the diaries and activity logs as
soon as you begin program planning. For
each activity, request information in a
specific format from program managers or
participants. This information may cover
issues such as the quality of program
components or track how your intended
audience uses the components.
Common Uses
• Track program implementation
• Assess effectiveness of
program implementation
• Monitor whether planned activities
are being conducted on schedule and
within budget
• Learn what questions program
participants had
• Learn what technical assistance was
needed by program staff
• Track intended audience exposure to
program components
Pros
• Allow respondents flexibility in
their responses
• Enable researchers to observe behavior
over time, rather than only once
Cons
• Require considerable effort on
respondents’ parts (for this reason,
consider offering incentives for completion
of the diaries/logs)
• Require staff able to code voluminous and
challenging incoming data
• Are not appropriate for respondents who
have low literacy skills or who have poor
writing skills or penmanship
METHODS
Making Health Communication Programs Work 153