LOGIC MODELS(AND OTHER BASICEVALUATION IDEAS)

LOGIC MODEL - the graphic depiction of the relationship

between your activitiesand their intended effects

Headache(SITUATION)

Get Pills(INPUT)

Take Pills(OUTPUT)

Feel Better(OUTCOME)

Why use a logic model?

What is the

situation?

What

changes

do we

want to

see?

What assets do we have?

What are we going

to do?

What will

change

as a

result of

our

actions?

How do we sustain that change?

PLANNING

Get everybody on the

same page.

Build understanding & promote consensus about what the program is and how it will work.

Make your underlying assumptions explicit.

Summarize complex projects to communicate with stakeholders and funders.

WHO is going to doWHAT,WHEN,WHY, andTO WHAT STANDARD?

OBJECTIVES

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Limitations of Logic Models

They represent reality, but are not reality.Human relationships are not mathematical formulas.

Programs/projects are not linear.Nothing ever goes exactly as planned.

Logic models focus on expected outcomes, not on actual outcomes (positive or negative unintended consequences).

They have a tendency to assess what is easiest to measurerather than what is most valuable.

There can be causal attribution issues -- variables may not be isolated and many factors are influencing outcomes.

Logic models don’t address whether you are doing the right thing, only what you did.

Other Things to Remember

Your THEORY OF CHANGE should not be too complex.

"I think you should be more explicit here in step two."

Cartoon by Sidney Harris

Be realistic.

We tend to value what we measure, so we must be sure to measure what we value.

Never convey a number without a

story; never a story without a

number.

Image: Sam Brown, http://www.explodingdog.com/

www.mncampuscompact.org