A note about the Results Framework. It is just that, a "programme logic that explains how the development objective is to be achieved, including causal relationships and underlying assumptions...” Wow! Let me give a simple and possibly error-prone example. Let's say you have suddenly had some unexpected even in your life that caused to perform some introspective review of your life's' goals. Let's say further that you lost your job and did not know how you would pay the bills and buy food. You might first think that you need to quickly get another job. But, you realize this might be an opportunity to review your life in general. You do just that, move it up a few levels and generalize. What do you want in life? Your responses might be, "I want to be happy!" Well, take it down a level. "I want to have money to buy necessities and enjoy good health."
Go further. "What will I do to enjoy good health (eat right, exercise, maintain healthy social relationships, etc.). Well, an important part might be, "how will I know that I have achieved these goals?" Well, you might define a list of measurements such as ideal weight attainment, percentage of healthy food groups in each weekly meal, defined progressive weight changes, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. measurements over the year. As you disciplined yourself to measure these criteria of having good health, which in turn would be an element towards achieving "happiness", you would have an idea if your program of self-improvement was working...or not working. If your program was not working to the desired goals, you would either review or modify those goals (I really cannot drink another drop of organic carrot juice!), or change them altogether ("weight loss is not really producing the desired effects!).
My illustration is the questions that you would continually ask yourself would be based on your original objectives and the criteria that you defined to ensure that you were headed in the right direction to achieve that "state of happiness". The vital issue is not how healthy am I, but am I "happy".
The Results Framework is a method of defining a program's objectives, defining a strategy to achieve that objective and then to describe intermediate results that will yield indicators to tell you if you are indeed achieving the "state of happiness" for the programs beneficiaries. Likewise, in relation to survey questionnaires, it is not the question itself that is important, but what indicator was defined by the Results Framework that is described by the question so that I might monitor and evaluate whether I am achieving my strategic objectives for the programs success for the community.
So, how would the Results Framework help me build better survey forms? A clear definition of what I am trying to achieve towards a desired state, will then guide me toward what are my objective to achieve that state, and what questions shall I ask myself periodically to determine if I have reached that state. If, after I produce my set of question, I see that some of questions seem relevant, but would not directly contribute to my knowledge of my stated goal.
The following shows an example. The Intermediate Results Strategies at the bottom would then be used to develop the questions to be asked to see if you are achieving your objectives
Again, this is a framework designed to enable you to map out and clearly illustrate what you want to do. Like my college English professor told me, "you really do not know what you are thinking until you begin writing it down"
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