Compare methods

	Program Evaluation in Social Work	Logic Model
Field	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	2004	2004
Originator	Evaluation-research tradition (Rossi, Lipsey, Freeman); social-work application by Royse, Thyer & Padgett	Program-evaluation tradition; popularized by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Type	Systematic assessment of the need, design, implementation, and outcomes of a program	Diagram linking program resources and activities to intended outcomes
Seminal source	Rossi, P. H., Lipsey, M. W., & Freeman, H. E. (2004). Evaluation: A Systematic Approach (7th ed.). SAGE Publications. ISBN: 9780761908944	W. K. Kellogg Foundation. (2004). Logic Model Development Guide. W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Aliases	Social Program Evaluation, Human Services Program Evaluation, Outcome and Process Evaluation, Evaluation Research (Social Work)	Program Logic Model, Logical Framework, Program Theory Model, Logic Model (Social Work)
Related	4	4
Summary	Program evaluation in social work is the systematic application of social-science methods to judge a program's need, design, implementation, outcomes, and efficiency, in order to improve programs and inform decisions about them. Drawing on the evaluation-research tradition of Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman and adapted for social work by Royse, Thyer, and Padgett, it spans a hierarchy of evaluation questions — from whether a program is needed and well-conceived to whether it is delivered as intended, produces the intended outcomes, and is worth its cost.	A logic model is a diagram that lays out the intended logic of a program — how its resources and activities are expected to produce outputs and, through them, short-, intermediate-, and long-term outcomes. Popularized in human services by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's development guide, it makes a program's underlying theory of change explicit and testable, providing the backbone for program planning, communication with stakeholders, and evaluation by clarifying exactly what the program does and what it is supposed to achieve.