4.8. Evaluation
Evaluation of the outcomes of the assessment is important. It would be desirable to present findings to stakeholders and consider the effects on policy and practice (Simmons, 1994). Thus, consideration should be given to an ‘evaluative’ component of the research process. Evaluation can take two forms. First, the process can be evaluated technically, in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of the data collection and analysis process. On the other hand, a model can also be evaluated in terms of its usefulness to stakeholders in a practical exercise. This would mean going back to the stakeholders, presenting them with the results of the analysis and asking whether this assists them in decision-making. This would clearly make sense, since one argument for the use of the models is that they present data in a format which is easy for stakeholders to understand.