Glossary

Activity: A specific conservation action conducted during the project to achieve a project objective. Examples: recruit 25 volunteers, conduct two controlled burns on five acres, hold three field trips for 150 seventh grade students. An activity may correspond to more than one output or outcome.

Baseline Measure: The pre-existing value of an indicator prior to the beginning of a project. The measure may be taken at one prior point in time or may be an average from multiple historical points.

Dissemination: Exchange of information. In general, the Foundation wants to know methods used for distributing key findings of the conservation activities and evaluation results with others.

Experimental Design: A formal research design used for evaluating the net results of an activity. All experimental designs are structured to provide a means to assess what might otherwise have happened if the activity did not take place. See glossary items as well for quasi-experimental designs, random-assignment experimental designs and external effects.

External Effects: Factors other than the project activities that may also affect project outputs and outcomes (e.g., weather, disease).

Indicator: An indicator is a discrete statistical metric used to estimate project outputs and post-project outcomes. They should not be excessively narrative. They also should not refer to activities but rather to the results of completing such activities. Examples: percent native plant density/10 square meters; percent change in student test scores; number of types of bird species.

Logic Framework: Also known as a logic model, a logic framework is a cornerstone of contemporary evaluation practice. This is a conceptual tool to show how your project is proposed to work by linking specific activities to (short-term) project outputs and (long-term) post-project outcomes. The framework summarizes the causes and effects in the project. It tests these theories using statistical indicators. Samples of logic frameworks of recent project awards can be found on another link in this evaluation section.

Predicted Value: Value from a hypothesis.

Project Output: A short-term result after completing an activity at the end of the project period. Examples: Restoration of 35 acres of prairie, dissemination of knowledge to 100 landowners about best management practices; protection of 100 acres through conservation easement acquisition. A project output may correspond to more than one activity.

Post-Project Outcome: A medium- to long-term result that occurs after the project ends. An outcome may impact the natural environment (e.g. stabilization of an endangered species) and/or people (e.g., increased participation by seven volunteers in a conservation effort). A post-project outcome may correspond to more than one activity.

Quasi-Experimental Design: A non-randomized experimental design that compares what happens to the target of a conservation activity to groups (places) who are not the target of a conservation activity. One example of a quasi-experimental design that is a pre-post quasi-experimental design in which a comparison is made for a group prior to initiating the activity and afterwards. A second example involves the construction of a control or comparison group (or site) with comparisons made between the “treatment” group (site) subject to the conservation activity and that which is not subject to it. The selection of the “treatment” and “control” groups is done through means other than randomization.

Random Experimental Design: An experimental design in which comparisons are made between “treatment” groups (sites) and control groups (sites). Treatment groups are subject to a conservation activity; control groups are not. The selection of the treatment and control groups is random.

Transferability: The ability of a conservation practice and/or evaluation method to be replicated either over time, across place and/or by a different organization.