Origin: Logic models date back to the 1970's. The first publication that used the term “logic model” is Evaluation: Promise and Performance by Joseph S. Wholey (1979). We see the footprints of logic model thinking in many places: private sector, public sector, nonprofit sector, international area, and evaluation field.
Description: A logic model supports the work of health promotion and community development by charting the course of community transformation as it evolves. The term logic model is used as a generic label for the many ways of displaying how change unfolds. Some other names include:
Core Constructs:
Whatever form you choose, a logic model will provide direction and clarity by presenting the big picture of change along with certain important details. Below is an illustration of the typical components of a logic model.
Logic models indicate when to expect certain changes. Many planners like to use the following three categories of effects although you may choose to have more or fewer depending on your situation.
Examples of when the logic model can be used:
During planning to:
Henert, Ellen.,Taylor-Power, Ellen (2008). Developing an Logic Model: Teaching and Training Guide.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/pdf/lmguidecomplete.pdf
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1877.aspx
- Private sector. The private sector has experienced total quality management and performance measurement movements.
- Public sector. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 moved all federal agencies to focus on results and link investments to results, not just activities.
- Nonprofit sector. The nonprofit sector is concerned with improving programs to produce valued impacts. The United Way is an example in outcome measurement using the logic model.
- International. Internationally, variations of a logic model have been demonstrated for a long time. Most international donor agencies use a form of program logic for planning and evaluation.
- Evaluators. Evaluators have played a prominent role in using and developing the logic model. This may be why the logic model is often called an “evaluation framework.” In fact, the origins of the logic model go back to Suchman (1967) and Weiss (1972). Other early influences were Bennett's (1976) hierarchy of evidence, developed to evaluate the effectiveness of Extension programs, and Wholey's (1979) evaluability techniques, developed to determine if a program is ready for evaluation. This work was a result of evaluators being asked to evaluate impact and finding that goals and objectives were vague; finding that programs didn't exist or weren't being implemented in a way that would achieve the expected results; and seeking new approaches for measuring causality [Bickman (1987), Chen (1990) theory-driven evaluation, and Weiss (1997) theory-based evaluation]. Development and use of logic model concepts by evaluators continues to result in a broad array of theoretical and practical applications (see Bibliography).
Description: A logic model supports the work of health promotion and community development by charting the course of community transformation as it evolves. The term logic model is used as a generic label for the many ways of displaying how change unfolds. Some other names include:
- Road map, conceptual map, or pathways map
- Mental model
- Blueprint for change
- Framework for action or program framework
- Program theory or program hypothesis
- Theoretical underpinning or rationale
- Causal chain or chain of causation
- Theory of change or model of change
Core Constructs:
Whatever form you choose, a logic model will provide direction and clarity by presenting the big picture of change along with certain important details. Below is an illustration of the typical components of a logic model.
- Purpose, or mission. What motivates the need for change? This can also be expressed as the problems or opportunities that the program is addressing.
- Context, or conditions. What is the climate in which change will take place?
- Inputs, or resources or infrastructure. What raw materials will be used to conduct the effort or initiative? Inputs can also include constraints on the program, such as regulations or funding gaps, which are barriers to your objectives.
- Activities, or interventions. What will the initiative do with its resources to direct the course of change? Your intervention, and thus your logic model, should be guided by a clear analysis of risk and protective factors.
- Outputs. What evidence is there that the activities were performed as planned?
- Effects, or results, consequences, outcomes, or impacts. What kinds of changes came about as a direct or indirect effect of the activities?
Logic models indicate when to expect certain changes. Many planners like to use the following three categories of effects although you may choose to have more or fewer depending on your situation.
- Short-term or immediate effects.
- Mid-term or intermediate effects.
- Longer-term or ultimate effects.
Examples of when the logic model can be used:
During planning to:
- Clarify program strategy
- Identify appropriate outcome targets (and avoid over-promising)
- Align your efforts with those of other organizations
- Write a grant proposal or a request for proposals
- Assess the potential effectiveness of an approach
- Set priorities for allocating resources
- Estimate timelines
- Identify necessary partnerships
- Negotiate roles and responsibilities
- Focus discussions and make planning time more efficient
- Provide an inventory of what you have and what you need to operate the program or initiative
- Develop a management plan
- Incorporate findings from research and demonstration projects
- Make mid-course adjustments
- Reduce or avoid unintended effects
- explain how the overall program works
- show how different people can work together
- define what each person is expected to do
- indicate how one would know if the program is working
- Document accomplishments
- Organize evidence about the program
- Identify differences between the ideal program and its real operation
- Determine which concepts will (and will not) be measured
- Frame questions about attribution (of cause and effect) and contribution (of initiative components to the outcomes)
- Specify the nature of questions being asked
- Prepare reports and other media
- Tell the story of the program or initiative
- Justify why the program will work
- Explain how resource investments will be used
Henert, Ellen.,Taylor-Power, Ellen (2008). Developing an Logic Model: Teaching and Training Guide.
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/pdf/lmguidecomplete.pdf
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1877.aspx