The Evidence Generation initiative assists affiliated agencies with measurement challenges. The EvGen measurement matrix identifies gaps in each agency’s data collection efforts and encourages them to distinguish between inputs, processes, outputs, and outcome measures. Each type of measurement is important for evaluation research.
Inputs are the resources that comprise what a program or intervention uses to achieve its goals, including staffing, facilities, equipment, training materials, and partnerships.
Outputs are the immediate, tangible results from the actions and services delivered by a program or policy. Typical outputs would include workshops conducted, counseling sessions provided, participants served, sanctions imposed, reports written, etc.
Process Measures are used to monitor the efforts and results of program implementation, combining inputs and outputs. If a program is not being implemented as intended, it cannot be expected to affect later measures of outcomes and impact. Process measures monitor the amount and quality of specific inputs and outputs. The most common type of process measure is a counting system that keeps track of how much of something is being administered. For example, if an organization attempts to increase school engagement by doing school visits, simply recording the number of school visits would be a process measure.
Outcome Measures are used to assess the short and long-term changes that result from a process. In the public safety field, the most traditional outcome measures are often negative, including recidivism and crime incidents. Outcome measures can also be positive, such as program completion, school graduation, employment, skill acquisition, improved relationships, more prosocial attitudes, etc.
Impact Measures represent the ultimate effects and benefits of the outcomes produced by a program or policy. The foundational impact of effective public safety interventions would include both empirical declines in crime but also increases in resident perceptions of safety and community well-being. Other potential impacts may be improved public health, increased educational attainment, and higher employment rates.
One way to distinguish the various measures is to consider the basic questions each tries to answer (paraphrasing Peter Drucker, 1993):
- Input and Output measures are used to answer the question:
“What did we do and how did we do it?” - Process measures are used to answer the question:
“Did we do those things right?” - Outcome measures are used to answer the question:
“Did we do the right things?” - Impact measures are used to answer the question:
“Did we produce what matters?”
The last question cannot be answered in full confidence without knowing the answers to the previous questions. The Evidence Generation initiative is designed to help program partners begin the process of generating affordable and reliable answers to each question.
References
Fox, Chris, Robert Grimm and Rute Caldeira (2016). An Introduction to Evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Drucker, Peter F. (1993). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. New York: Harper Collins.
Giancola, Susan P. (2026). Program Evaluation: Embedding Evaluation Into Program Design and Development (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Patton, Michael Quinn and Charmagne E. Campbell-Patton (2021). Utilization-Focused Evaluation (5th Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Developing a Measurement Plan
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