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How should an evaluation plan be organized: Limitations
The Limitations section of the evaluation plan describes any known limits on the implementation, analysis, interpretation, and application of the evaluation. Every evaluation has limitations, and there is often an arguable basis for alternative explanations of even the most robust findings. The Limitations section of your plan should also describe potential threats to the reliability and validity of the evaluation design and instrumentation. Here is a brief example of a Limitations section:
LIMITATIONS: Two constraints on this evaluation should be clarified. First, all resources in DLEE during this evaluation should be regarded as a small sample of the resources and collections that will eventually be available. In fact, additional resources and perhaps whole new collections will be added to DLEE during the evaluation. The “moving target” nature of the DLEE should be kept in mind when interpreting the results of the evaluation. The second constraint has to do with the different perspectives of the participants in this evaluation. Some of the participants will be fulltime engineering educators who have an immediate need to access and use DLEE resources. Other visitors to DLEE are likely to be engineers seeking continuing professional development resources or engineering graduate students seeking help with their courses. These distinctive perspectives must be kept in mind when the results of the evaluation are considered. |
The Limitations section of an evaluation plan should answer the following questions:
- What constraints or limitations exist that may influence data collection, analysis, interpretation, and use of the evaluation findings?
- How are constraints or limitations being handled?