The Evaluation Exchange
Volume VIII, No. 3, Winter 2002
Issue Topic: Public Communication Campaigns and Evaluation
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange, Harvard Family Research Project's
quarterly evaluation periodical, focuses on public communication campaigns and
their efforts to achieve desirable social outcomes. Articles in the first half
of the issue offer promising practices and tips for campaign designers and implementers.
Articles in the second half examine how campaigns are being evaluated and associated
issues, challenges, and innovations.
Download the entire issue as an PDF file or click on the links in the table
of contents to read the individual articles on our website:
Table of Contents
From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue by HFRP's Founder & Director,
Heather B. Weiss,
Ed.D.
Theory & Practice
Promising Practices
Beyond Basic Training
- Understanding Research: Ten Tips
Stephanie Schaefer of
the National Association of Child Advocates offers tips on how to evaluate
research information for its credibility.
- Keeping It Local
Julie Parente of the statewide child advocacy organization, Voices for
Illinois Children, describes a component of their “ground strategy”
for effectively communicating campaign messages.
Questions & Answers
- A Conversation With Ethel Klein
Ethel Klein is a longtime campaign strategist and pollster. Currently,
she is president of EDK Associates, a strategic research firm based in New
York City. Dr. Klein has designed campaigns for nonprofit organizations and
foundations on issues of women’s rights, low-income housing, environmental
protection, gay and lesbian rights, work and family policies, health education,
and tax reform.
Spotlight
- Beyond the Usual Suspects
Julia Coffman, from Harvard Family Research Project, describes methods
for campaign evaluation that are unique to the communications arena.
- Keeping Smokey Looking Good at Sixty
Over the last 60 years the Advertising Council has worked on hundreds
of public service campaigns on a broad range of social issues, including such
well-known campaigns as Smokey Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog. George Perlov,
Senior Vice President for Planning, Research, and Foundation Relations, offers
a look at the role of research and evaluation inside the Ad Council.
Evaluations to Watch
Ask the Expert
- What do evaluators of public communication campaigns
need to do to advance their work and this field?
We posed this question to Gary T. Henry, who is a professor in the Andrew
Young School of Policy Studies and the Department of Political Science at
Georgia State University. He serves as co-editor-in-chief of the journal,
New Directions for Evaluation, and recently co-authored Evaluation:
An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies
and Programs (2000, Jossey-Bass).
- How can evaluations of public communication campaigns
be of more use to social change efforts?
We posed this question to Dr. Sharyn Sutton, President, and Elizabeth Heid
Thompson, Vice President, of the social marketing firm, Sutton Group, in Washington
D.C. They have worked on the research, strategic planning, and execution of
numerous social change efforts and public service campaigns.
New & Noteworthy
A list of new resources on evaluation of public communication campaigns
and strategic communications in general.
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange was published by Harvard Family
Research Project. All rights reserved. This periodical may not be reproduced
whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. To request reprint
permission or multiple hard copies of the issue email hfrp_pubs@gse.harvard.edu.
Harvard Family Research Project gratefully acknowledges the support of the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation..
The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of Harvard Family
Research Project and do not necessarily reflect the view of our funders.
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