Design & theoryEvaluation designEvaluation purposeKEQEvaluation frameworkQuestion design
Key Evaluation Questions
Key Evaluation Questions
Also known as: KEQ、Key evaluation questions、Evaluation questions
Focus the judgments an evaluation needs to make into questions linked to users’ decisions. Before drafting survey items, decide what the evaluation must answer. [1]
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Cost
- Low
- Duration
- Illustrative estimate (adjust for scale and staffing): half a day to 1 day (including stakeholder discussion)
Content updated: 2026-10-07Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)No documented human reviewIncludes fictional examples
How it works at a glance
Evaluation questions are the main questions the evaluation as a whole answers. Select questions about implementation, changes for participants and the conditions producing change to fit the evaluation’s purpose and use. [1]
Specify whose circumstances and what period each question covers, and which judgments or improvements it will inform. Prioritize based on available data and resources rather than attempting to evaluate all outcomes at once. [1]
- Confirm evaluation purpose
- Gather information needs
- Organize candidate questions
- Select and focus KEQs
- Structure KEQs
- Set judgment criteria
- Agree with stakeholders
When to use it and when it is unsuitable
When to use it
- Agreeing on evaluation focus and scope with stakeholders early in planning
- Developing shared understanding of purpose and deliverables between the commissioner and evaluator
- Selecting hypotheses or pathways to evaluate after completing a logic model or ToC
- Organizing questions before creating an evaluation design matrix
When it is unsuitable
- When purpose, users and intended uses are entirely unclear; stakeholder analysis and evaluability assessment come first
- Standard-format evaluations whose questions are already fixed, such as standardized measurement tools
Participants, roles, and deliverables
Participants and roles
Primary evaluation users, program officers, participant representatives and evaluators. Select members to include the interests and perspectives needed.
Main deliverables
- KEQ list with rationale and judgment criteria for each question
- Agreed evaluation design document (incorporated into the terms of reference)
Implementation steps
- Confirm evaluation purposeClarify who is conducting the evaluation and why. Identify whether it is formative (for improvement) or summative (for accountability and judgment), and who its primary users are.
- Gather information needsUse interviews or questionnaires to ask key stakeholders what they want to learn. Gather questions broadly across perspectives before prioritizing them.
- Organize candidate questionsTurn information needs into questions. Use the 5W prompts—what, how much, why, for whom and how—to make them specific.
- Select and focus KEQsChoose important, answerable questions in light of intended use, resources and deadlines. Focus on what decisions require rather than a fixed quota of questions.
- Structure KEQsBreak main questions into subsidiary questions identifying what must be checked to approach an answer. Determine the number according to content.
- Set judgment criteriaFor each KEQ, explicitly state what counts as sufficient or insufficient. Unclear criteria make conclusions arbitrary.
- Agree with stakeholdersShare the final KEQ list with the commissioner and key stakeholders and finalize it as an agreed evaluation design document (part of the ToR).
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Clarifies evaluation focus and creates consistency across data collection, analysis and reporting
- Reflects stakeholders’ information needs, increasing the likelihood of use
- Structures the entire evaluation process as the foundation of the design matrix
Limitations
- Insufficient stakeholder involvement in question development can lead to scope changes during evaluation
- KEQs may focus only on measurable issues, excluding important but difficult questions
- Changing circumstances can make initial questions obsolete
Common pitfalls
- Too many improvement questions push judgment and accountability questions aside
- KEQs are too abstract, such as “Was the program effective?”, to translate into a measurement plan
- Questions become leading because the commissioner’s preferred answer or advocacy is an implicit premise
- Treating the finalized KEQ list as unchangeable prevents responses to learning and changing circumstances
Conditions of use and evidence
- Distinguishing process questions from outcome questions separates implementation issues from outcome issues. [1]
Questions for choosing next year’s counseling hours
The following fictional example reviews next year’s intake arrangements because continued service use is low.
Scroll horizontally to view the table
| Stakeholder | Information needed (candidate questions) | Priority (high / medium / low) |
|---|---|---|
| Users and non-users | Can people seek counseling at current hours using current application methods? | High |
| Counseling service manager | What burdens would changing intake create? | High |
Common errors in judgment
Common mistake
Judging success solely by how many people used the service
How to revise
Also ask whether intended participants were reached and why some were not
ReasonCounts do not explain the quality of reach or barriers to access.
Common mistake
Listing every questionnaire item as a main evaluation question
How to revise
Arrange main judgments and the smaller questions that answer them hierarchically
ReasonThis avoids confusing evaluation focus with data collection items.
Organize your thinking by writing
Evaluation question worksheet
A practical template is available to fill in and print on A4 paper.
Open worksheetRelated practical guides
Related methods
References and checked sections
- Identifying evaluation questionsAustralian Institute of Family Studies · 2019
- Section consulted
- How to develop evaluation questions; Process questions / Outcome questions
- How it relates to the text
- Distinguishing process questions from outcome questions separates implementation issues from outcome issues.
Editorial and checking information
How to cite this page
EvalCompass Editorial Team. “Key Evaluation Questions”. EvalCompass, updated 2026-10-07. https://evalcompass.jun-nakatani.com/en/methods/evaluation-questions/
Add the date you accessed the page. Text created by this site is available under CC BY 4.0. Quotations, external materials, and bundled fonts have their own terms of use. When reusing content, credit the source, link to the license, and indicate any changes.
Change history
- — Updated explanations to correspond to the sources and added method-specific fictional completed examples, judgment examples and a change log.
- — Made minimal corrections to categorical claims, fixed conditions or inconsistencies between the worksheet and examples based on content check FW-04. Preserved field numbers, order, labels and section structure. Did not change the verification status of unchecked materials.