Deployment
DATA ANALYSIS PLATFORM
Video tool
Type of tool: Artefact
Phase: Deployment
IMPACT ASSESSMENT SURVEY
How to evaluate the results of a project
The challenge
Making a positive impact is a key goal of any citizen science project. Therefore, measuring the effects produced by the activities developed must be a key step in any project. There are many approaches to impact measurement, covering different project goals and time frames. Here we present a tool that you can use to gather your participant’s opinions about the results obtained at the end of your project
How to know if your project has reached the expected impact?
The Tool
This tool provides a practical example of a survey for assessing the impact reached by your project. Its aim is to identify the positive and negative effects that your project has had on citizens and their community. The survey is meant to be administered to citizens who took part in all or some of the activities carried out.
Download the toolbox
We share with you some resources that can be useful to carry out this activity.
Discover the Tool in Action
Read our case study and see how this tool has been used in a real citizen science study
Let's measure our impact
CitieS-Health project
What
This tool was created by the CitieS-Health consortium as a whole. It was adapted and administered in each CitieS-Health pilot for gauging participants’ perceptions about the impact that the pilots produced in local communities and people’s lives.
Why
To evaluate the impact achieved by the project from the point of view of participants To identify areas of improvement for future participatory projects
How
Collect participants' opinions on what is important to evaluate
To create the impact evaluation survey, we believe it is important to first ask our participants what they would like to evaluate and what they think are the main impacts of the project. To this purpose, we have prepared and distributed to community champions, a short questionnaire aimed at identifying key evaluation categories. You can download it in the Toolbox section.
Define the evaluation categories and questions
Based on the results of the previous step, define the overall categories you aim to evaluate and build the corresponding questions to address them. Some of the topics addressed in our survey were: social cultural and political impact on the community, new knowledge and skills acquired, level of participation and satisfaction. Once done, show the survey to a few participants and ask them whether all questions are clear and unambiguous.
Distribute the survey widely
The distribution of the survey is as important as creating it. In fact, it is crucial to ensure responses from a wide group of participants. Each CitieS-Health pilot has adopted different strategies, such as sending newsletter, whatsapp messages and postcards to people’s homes. In the Toolbox section you can see an example of a letter sent in the Barcelona pilot. You can also use this opportunity to inform participants of the study results, in this way you give them back something useful.