The table below provides a simple framework for assessing the benefits of participation, based on the four generic reasons why engagement is carried out.
| Goals/purpose | Possible indicators | How to get data | Important assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved governance | Increased trust in government | Surveys before and after the engagement process | Trust may be affected by a wide range of influences; this process may only be one among many |
| Social capital and social justice | Increased equality of access to decision-making
Developed new contacts / given access to new networks | Demographic analysis of participants + feedback from them on the difference made by the exercise
Questionnaires after engagement events; interviews later | Social capital can be a difficult concept, and is not always understood to operate beyond the local level; but the importance of increasing access to different people and new networks does work at national level. |
| Improved quality of services / projects / programmes | Costs saved by people taking more responsibility for service outcomes and making less demand (e.g. healthy living)
Quicker decisions by avoiding conflict | Feedback from doctors and patients through surveys, polls etc.
Collecting costs of dealing with conflict (e.g. complaints, objections, campaigns etc) | It is difficult to separate the impacts of engagement from other elements of service improvement.
The costs of conflict are rarely recorded, so data would have to be collected from scratch |
| Capacity building and learning | Greater awareness and understanding of the issues
More confidence and willingness to get involved in future | Questionnaires with participants after the process; and follow-up interviews later
Questionnaires with participants before and after the process; and follow-up interviews later | These are relatively straightforward issues to test with participants before, during and after the process |
For more guidance on evaluating public participation, see How do I evaluate participation?