Evaluation Purpose and Partners
Describing the Intervention
Evaluation Design
Methodology and Data Collection
Data Analysis
Reporting and Dissemination
A logic model is often used in an evaluation to visually depict the “theory of change” behind how an intervention is intended to influence outcomes. Generally, a logic model is read by column from left to right and it includes directional arrows and lines to illustrate causal relationships between the intervention inputs, activities, and outputs and the short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes. Although the logic model is frequently a linear concept map, it can be complex in terms of the number of relationships among inputs, activities, and outputs and the resulting outcomes as well as the potential feedback and influence of the outcomes on the inputs, activities, and outputs.
Logic models should reflect process evaluation, impact evaluation, and outcome evaluation elements. The process component of the model will describe what is needed in the planning phase of the intervention, while the outcome elements in a logic model demonstrate the intended effect or goal with respect to a given time period. The table below provide descriptions of key logic model components.
Two other important components that can be added to a logic model are “assumptions” and “external environment.” The goal of a logic model is to communicate relationships between the intervention’s inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes, and to convey the assumptions and external factors that may influence these relationships.
The word “logic” in logic model also explicitly illustrates the importance of logical connections between components within the model. The table below lists examples of pedestrian safety intervention activities and short-term and long-term outcomes that could potentially be logically linked to these activities.
- Pedestrian Injury Prevention Action Team Program Logic Model (Safe States Alliance)
- Evaluation of Health Care-Community Engagement Efforts to Address Obesity: A Sample Logic Model (National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research)
- Community Action Model (Active Living by Design)
