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Integration of process with outcome evaluations has been recommended as a way of addressing some of the criticisms of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) for evaluating social interventions. This is the second of two articles (the first was published in issue 10(4) of this journal) discussing the design, implementation and analysis of a process evaluation as an integral part of the RIPPLE (Randomized Intervention of Pupil Peer-Led sex Education) Study. The methods for integrating process and outcome data are outlined and findings are presented to illustrate how integration of process and outcome data enabled exploration of: 1) variation between schools in the extent and quality of the intervention implemented, and any impact of this on outcomes; 2) the processes by which the intervention might affect outcomes; and 3) the extent to which different subgroups of students or schools may have responded differently to the intervention. The article concludes with a discussion of the methodological issues arising from this attempt at integrating process and outcome evaluations within the design of an RCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution describes a 'trident' approach to programmed evaluation, which focuses on three 'prongs' that might be used to structure an evaluation. These prongs represent the measurement of outcomes; the description and analysis of process; and the sampling of multiple stakeholder perspectives. The prongs thus address the questions: did it work, what happened and what did stakeholders think of it? The origins of the approach are described and its approach related to the needs of contractors and the purposes of evaluation. The methodological implications of the three 'prongs' are considered, including objective specification and outcome measurement; approaches to process description and analysis; and the techniques available to sample stakeholder perspectives. Three case studies of the trident in action are presented, including evaluations of clinical facilitation for student nurses; a skills laboratory for the acquisition of clinical techniques; and a scheme for the educational, social and health development of children under the age of four. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]