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Intervention Evaluation Methodology Technologies, New

The Internet, mobile phones, and social media can facilitate evaluation at all phases of a health communication project, including formative, process, and outcome evaluation. The main advantages technology affords for evaluation of communication programs include reach to large numbers of people, automation and better control of data collection, and more rapid implementation of evaluation. At the same time, technology-based evaluation can suffer from lack of detail and inadequate representation from diverse audiences, as well as problems in achieving data from probability samples.

Technology in Formative Evaluation

The use of the focus group to help define campaign parameters is a staple of health communication campaign development. Internet technology and social media tools such as chat rooms facilitate the capacity to collect formative program development data through online chat rooms and discussion boards. These are situated within Internet provider or social media sites, where people interact with one another synchronously (as in chat rooms) and asynchronously (in threaded discussion).

The use of chat rooms for formative data collection and focus groups demonstrates that the approach can hasten the process of data collection and allow for a rapid compilation of ideas relevant for health communication; in addition, online events eliminate the need for travel or meeting space. Researchers have also utilized online threaded discussion to obtain perspectives from a more geographically dispersed audience than would otherwise be possible in focus group/audience research. When collecting data online in chat rooms or threaded discussions, there is no need for transcription.

The synchronicity required in chat rooms necessitates substantial work in recruiting enough participants to make the chat dynamic and engaging and encounters the risk that chatters may be distracted and engaged in multiple activities at once. Asynchronous threaded discussion overcomes these issues, allowing people to post responses to questions on their own time. However, the amount of detail and depth to qualitative answers obtained online does not always match that achievable through face-to-face encounters.

Technology in Process Evaluation

Understanding who is exposed to a health communication campaign, and which elements are engaging, is central to the process evaluation endeavor. Technology-based process evaluation tools can allow for documentation of Web-based campaign metrics: for example, daily and/or unique visits, how viewers got to the site, and what they did there (e.g., which pages were viewed, the order in which they were viewed). This can be particularly useful in helping to understand whether the message the campaign intends to send is being seen and by whom (demographics of viewers are obtainable), and receivers are “going deeper” by clicking on links (i.e., the “click-trail”) or taking desired actions (known as “conversion”). These tools can also generate data in real time, making it easier to alter campaign strategies or change directions in order to maximize campaign effect.

Online analytic tools can blend with real-world campaigns; if the campaign has a Web site named for the campaign materials, evaluators can track people who link to it. A simpler way to achieve the same outcome has emerged, called the quick-response or QR code. Using a mobile phone, one can take a picture of the QR code that then takes the participant directly to a Web site where he or she can get more information about a campaign.

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