Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.)

‘In Utilization-Focused Evaluation (Patton, 1978) I suggested that if one had to choose between implementation information and outcomes information because of limited evaluation resoures, there are many instances in which implementation information would be of greater value. A decision maker can use implementation information to make sure that a policy is being put into operation according to design – or to test the feasibility of the policy. Unless one knows that a program is operating according to design, there may be little reason to expect it to produce the desired outcomes. Furthermore, until the program is implemented and a ‘treatment’ is believed to be in operation, there may be little reason even to bother evaluating outcomes. Where outcomes are evaluated without knowledge of implementation, the resuts seldom provide a direction for action because the decision maker lacks information about what produced the observed outcomes (or lack of outcomes). ... It is important to study and evaluate program implementation in order to understand how and why programs deviate from initial plans and expectations. Such deviations are quite common and natural ...’ (Patton, 1980, p 69; 1990, p. 105; Patton, 2002, p. 161)